This current crisis affects the world’s economy not just individual countries or regions. No country is fully insulated from the effects and we must all play our part to reform and improve the international systems.

Many countries have already taken action to minimise the effects of this crisis. And there has also been effective coordinated action through Central Banks on interest rates and action through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stabilise struggling economies.

More recently, as the financial crisis has deepened it has spread from the largest economies to emerging markets across the world. Its legacy of recession in advanced and emerging economies is expected to lower economic growth rates in the rest of the world.

As members of the G20, we recognise that all G20 countries have a strong interest and a substantial role to play in supporting the global economy and strengthening the financial apparatus, and this is why we are taking coordinated actions at an international level.