COMMENT The meeting of finance ministers of the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations ended with a communiqué that made all the right statements. Economic stimulus packages are the tools. Creation and preservation of jobs and increasing capital flows are the appropriate priorities. As the G7 underscored, such actions must be pursued while avoiding trade protectionist measures, securing the successful conclusion of the Doha round of trade negotiations and assuring emerging and developing countries’ access to credit and trade financing, while encouraging resumption of private capital flows.
These familiar G7 statements come, however, at a time when many economic initiatives at the country level are accompanied by calls to ensure that the measures serve only the citizens of the implementing nation. These protectionist pressures are likely to mount as unemployment rises.
