George Bush to host weekend summit

Calcutta News.Net
Friday 14th November, 2008

President George W. Bush will be the host this weekend for the first-ever leaders' summit of the Group of 20, which includes not only the world's wealthiest nations but also major developing countries such as Russia, China, Brazil and India.

The talks will only go until Saturday, but will hear Bush defending his administration's response to the financial crisis.

During a speech in New York, the president said: 'I'm a market-oriented guy, but not when I'm faced with the prospect of a global meltdown.'

President Bush has put forward to the G20 a list of modest reform proposals including making accounting rules more transparent.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has said he would like the meeting to address some important issues raised by the crisis, such as how credit-rating agencies failed to properly assess risks and how to develop better ways to monitor complex financial instruments known as derivatives.

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