King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, called for financial reform through strong supervisory and control systems instead of the imposition of taxes on financial institutions and reiterated the importance of supporting developing countries particularly those affected by the financial crisis. Addressing the G20 Summit in Toronto Sunday, the King called for sustainable growth through coordinated actions. “It is important that global growth should be stronger and more balanced and sustainable through the adoption of coordinated actions by G20 countries and simultaneously taking into account the needs and circumstances of each country,” the King said on the concluding day of the summit, which was launched in late 2008 to deal with the global financial crisis. “The Kingdom has done its utmost to help poor countries and to mitigate the effects of the global crisis on them by increasing bilateral and multilateral development and humanitarian assistance as well as supporting and enhancing the resources of regional and multilateral development banks,” the King said. King Abdullah also highlighted the measures Saudi Arabia took in the wake of the global economic meltdown. “In the area of public finance, the Kingdom continued its investment program in both public and oil sectors with a total expenditure of $400 billion, the amount which was announced earlier in Washington. This amount of expenditure is the largest stimulus package announced by a G20 member state as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” the King said. This is in addition to increasing the capital of financial institutions to enable them to provide additional funding for the private sector, especially large enterprises and small and medium-sized companies. “The Kingdom has also taken action in the area of monetary policy, finance and trade. These measures have helped to reduce the impact of the global financial crisis and enhance the performance of the Saudi economy,” King Abdullah said. “The banking system has maintained its levels of profitability and capital.” King Abdullah welcomed the progress made on the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and IMF reforms, and stressed the importance of addressing the proposals as an integrated package. Group of 20 leaders pledged Sunday to push for an agreement on more voting power for emerging economic powers in the International Monetary Fund by the next summit in Seoul in early November. The leaders from major developed and developing nations reiterated their commitment to a shift in power to dynamic emerging economies of at least five percent, which was agreed upon at the G20 leaders' meeting in Pittsburgh last year. King Abdullah stressed that the continued recovery in world trade was a necessary requirement for the acceleration of the pace of global growth. This requires avoiding protectionism and taking appropriate measures to support business-associated funding. “In line with Saudi Arabia's commitment to free trade, it continues its efforts to support trade liberalization initiatives at all levels. The Kingdom continues to provide funding for the purposes of trade through a number of programs and funds at national and regional levels,” the King said. With regard to oil market developments, the King stressed that the fluctuation in oil prices, which the world witnessed in 2008 and 2009, caused damage to producing as well as consuming countries. Therefore, consuming countries should regulate financial and commodity markets. The Kingdom continued to apply its balanced oil policy to contribute to the stability of oil markets, and has increased its production capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day, the Monarch said. The King urged consumers to cooperate with producing countries to ensure market stability, security of demand and supply so as to maintain the flow of investments required in energy production. It is important to enhance the access to energy of poor countries through the adoption of policies and programs. “The promotion of access to sources of clean and diverse energy that is reliable and affordable is essential to achieve sustainable growth and development. Our approach to support clean technologies should not include a bias or prejudice against oil and other fossil fuels,” the King said.
