British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called Wednesday for a "grand bargain" between national leaders to help the recession-mired global economy, as he set out plans for the April G20 summit. Brown said leaders must show their citizens that the world can "come together to make decisions" on banking and financial regulation, and economic stimulus plans.
"I think we are fashioning for the future a global deal, a grand bargain, where each continent accepts its responsibilities and its obligations to act to deal with what is a global problem that can only be solved with a global solution," Brown said at his monthly press conference in Downing Street.
He was speaking as his office published "The Road to the London summit," setting out proposals in the run-up to the April 2 summit of the Group of 20 (G20) advanced and developing nations. The report sets out priorities including the need to stimulate the global economy, kick-start lending, renounce protectionism, reform global regulation and international financial institutions.
Brown earlier met with the head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn and World Bank chief Robert Zoellick to discuss the agenda for the April summit of the Group of 20 industrialised and developing countries.
He is to hold talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome on Thursday, and with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other European leaders at a meeting in Berlin over the weekend.
Strauss-Kahn warned on Tuesday that the global financial system is still far from sound and the toxic debt blighting bank balance sheets is undermining government recovery efforts. Britain has already nationalised one bank, Northern Rock, and owns a majority stake in another, Royal Bank of Scotland.