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British PM urges G20 to drive growth agenda

Published 03/19/2010, 08:24 AM
Updated 03/19/2010, 08:28 AM

* PM Brown wants G20 to provide growth strategy

* Sees risk of further problems if reforms stall

By Keith Weir

LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the G20 must mature into an organisation that can promote global economic growth and warned there could be another financial crisis if its reforms stalled.

The G20 group of emerging and developed nations emerged as the main forum to coordinate a response to the financial crisis in late 2008.

Brown chaired the G20 last year and hosted a summit 12 months ago at which a $1.1 trillion package was agreed to help pull the global economy out of its deepest slump in generations.

"I want to make the G20, which is a new organisation, not simply a group of people who meet every few months but to formulate a growth strategy for the world economy," Brown told a meeting hosted by Britain's Foreign Press Association.

"If all you do is prevent a recession turning into a depression but do not rebuild for the future, then the danger is you are allowing the world to fall again into the possibility that you may have another financial problem of globalisation."

Brown, the former finance minister who faces a parliamentary election by June, won international plaudits for his stewardship of the G20 last year.

He contrasted his plans to maintain fiscal stimulus until recovery was assured with those of the opposition Conservatives who want a quicker start on cutting a record budget deficit.

Canada, which hosts a G20 summit in June, took a gloomy look at what could go wrong with the global economy on Thursday, warning of prolonged recession or a new debt-driven crisis unless countries push ahead with promised reforms.

Asked by foreign journalists about the Greek debt crisis, Brown said the underlying problem for Europe was weak growth and high unemployment.

"We have a great deal of faith that people will ensure that growth in Europe makes the European Union -- which is probably only going to grow by one percent this year, one percent next year and maybe one percent the year after -- grow a lot faster than that to get unemployment down."

Brown refused to single out Germany when asked if Europe's largest economy should be doing more to boost domestic demand, saying it was in everyone's interest for Europe to grow more rapidly. (Additional reporting by Peter Griffiths; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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