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countries to raise their voice together to claim their share from a
G20 fund created to tackle the fallout of global recession. He also
demanded a proper distribution of the $1.1 trillion fund generated by
G20 leaders in April this year to help developing countries and
stimulate world trade. Of the fund, developing and poor countries will
receive only $50 billion. The World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund are likely to manage the fund. The minister also
expressed dissatisfaction at the poor allocation of $50 billion for
the underprivileged countries to deal with the financial crisis that
originated in the developed countries. "There is a group of vulnerable
countries and what kind of system should be followed to distribute
this fund is very important," Muhith told the inaugural session of a
four-day regional workshop on strengthening responses to the global
financial crisis in the Asia-Pacific region at Sonargaon hotel in
Dhaka. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (UNESCAP) and the Bangladesh Bank jointly organised the
programme to work out realistic and viable policy suggestions required
for the region to weather the ongoing global recession. Finance
ministry and central bank officials of 17 Asia Pacific countries,
including China, India, Malaysia, Fiji and Russia, are taking part in
the workshop. Muhith also came down heavily on the global financial
regulators -- IMF and WB -- for their ' sheer failure' to warn member
countries about the recession. "Early warning system has totally
failed. We've to think about restructuring the system," said the
minister. He also urged the participating countries to work together
for restructuring the global financial system that he said had failed
to give the countries warning before the financial crisis. The finance
minister also felt the necessity to change the global attitude to use
resources for trade financing in the wake of the financial meltdown
that has affected trade financing badly. "Reserves could be used for
trade financing such as purchase of fuel, fertiliser and food," Muhith
suggested. Easy access to trade financing is crucial to absorb
financial shock, he said. The minister however said keeping up the
domestic demand is vital to absorb the shock following a decline in
demand. "Creating domestic demand is most obvious to mitigate the
impacts of the crisis," he said. More spending is needed for social
and infrastructure development to keep the domestic demand up amid the
crisis, he suggested. Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman
presented a keynote paper at the session chaired by BB Deputy Governor
Nazrul Huda. Nagesh Kumar, director of Macroeconomic Policy and
Development Division of ESCAP, delivered the address of welcome.
Rahman called upon the regional countries to strengthen cooperation in
response to the current crisis. "To grow intra-regional trade is
required to reduce dependence on North American and European markets,"
he said. A strong regional bond market can also help channel regional
savings into real sectors, he added. The governor also echoed the
finance minister for restructuring the global financial system.
