By Ma Jianguo
Hopes have been high for the coming G20 summit to be held in London, at least so for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown who has been repeatedly wording "global New Deal" out of it, but for his German counterpart, visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the hope seems to be tuned down, a little.
Though Merkel did not give a flat rejection to the new stimulus package as has been called by British and US governments, what she said at the joint press conference on Saturday seemed to be watering down the stimulus package.
The German leader said Germany had already had its stimulus package and would concentrate instead on delivering the policies.
Merkel, who came to London on Friday for her two-day visit, said what Germany needed was to help build a better regulatory system to prevent future crisis and let the banks and enterprises play their roles.
The German chancellor said her country was different from either the United States or Britain in pension and employment and Germany needed to cut the red tapes so as to promote its export and stabilize its economy.
Saying that she was optimistic about reaching agreements at next month's G20 summit in London, Merkel noted that world leaders should put together financial packages that "benefit both national and international economies."
Brown, who has repeatedly emphasized a "global New Deal" for the G20 summit against the current crisis, said that "each country can help the other by announcing similar financial measures," apparently tuning down his high hope for a coordinated action at the summit.
Brown said Germany and Britain had already had their "biggest stimulus packages in history," which might be interpreted by some as his reluctance in accepting Germany's refusal to have more stimulus packages.
But the British prime minister said that a bad bank in one country could harm a good bank in another, insisting that in such a globalized economy today there should be efforts to fight the crisis on both national and international levels.
Brown said that "countries will be agreeing together about what we are going to do in the future, both in fiscal and monetary policy and in the regulatory system," and "we are setting a path for the G20 where one by one we reach agreement for the big issues in the future."
In fact, Merkel has been rejecting calls for a new stimulus package despite the pressure from the United States and Britain.