FISCAL STIMULUS Who: The United States, Britain and Japan had been strong proponents of concerted action around the world to pump more government funds into stimulus packages; France and Germany led calls to wait for results from funds already committed. Result: No obligation for further fiscal measures were established, a fact greeted with satisfaction by Germany. MARKET REGULATION Who: France and Germany had been the most vocal in pressing for oversight of hedge funds, a cause that Chancellor Angela Merkel had pushed even before the financial crisis. Japan had said regulation should take second place to saving the world economy. Result: Clear summit commitment to extend regulation and oversight to all systemically important financial institutions, instruments and markets. Credit rating agencies will also be covered. BEEFED UP IMF Who: Australia, Canada and South Africa were among those making the running for a big increase in IMF lending resources; Russia, Argentina, China, India, Saudi Arabia and others argued for reforms to give emerging economies more voting clout at the Fund. Result: a tripling of IMF lending funds was more than had been expected, but less was said about the rebalancing of influence that the developing countries want. TRADE Who: Brazil and Britain had floated a figure of $100 billion for new credit lines for international trade. Result: figure of $250 billion exceeded expectations. PROTECTIONISM Who: Britain, United States, South Korea, Canada and India had demanded that the G20 make strong commitments to free trade. Result: Summit ‘reaffirmed' commitment from previous summit last year to refrain from raising new barriers to investment and trade. In practice. TAX HAVENS Who: France and Germany were the most vocal in demanding a crackdown on tax havens. Result: summit agreed to blacklist ‘non-cooperative jurisdictions' and consider sanctions. RESERVE CURRENCY Who: China and Russia wanted to discuss a new global reserve currency as an alternative to the dollar, based on IMF Special Drawing Rights. Result: Topic was not discussed, but Russia issued its own statement.
