The other G 7 financial ministers in continental Europe share this opinion.

30 Communiqué of G 20 finance ministers and central bank governors, Berlin, November 2004.

We welcome the initiative of the finance ministers of the Group of Eight to cancel the debt of 18 heavily indebted poor countries.

More interesting and significant are the mixed reviews from G 20 presidents and finance ministers.

All States should have a financial intelligence unit that satisfies the criteria for membership of the Egmont Group.

The most recent G7 finance ministers meeting in October was an utter failure.

The G 8 finance ministers have agreed to cancel 40 billion of debt owed by eighteen of the world s poorest countries.

This time, armed with a feasibility study put together by the five BRICS finance ministers, some progress may at last be made.

But imagine if one day a host of key communications satellites were incapacitated, or the databases of major financial systems were erased.

Mr. Torres Lépori (Argentina), speaking on behalf of the Rio Group, acknowledged the importance of providing the United Nations with adequate financial resources for the implementation of its mandate.

Indeed, Public Citizen, a US consumer advocacy group, has calculated that, in the US alone, the pharmaceutical industry has paid out billions of dollars as a result of court judgments and financial settlements between pharmaceutical manufacturers and federal and state governments.

This will include a package of financial and practical help to build the capacity of the African Union, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and Africa's subregional and national institutions.

The LDC Group believed that the resulting vicious circle of debt could be broken only by massive financial and technical assistance.

The eurozone would then have one constituency, or seat, on the Fund s executive board, filled by a candidate nominated by the eurozone group of finance ministers.

The Maldivian government was able to prevent Bangladeshi migrant workers' community in the capital Malé from holding a demonstration on Friday, by using the threat of deportation.

CAMBRIDGE When they met earlier this month, G 20 finance ministers and central bankers called for global improvements in corporate governance.

The October 23 statement of principles released by G 20 finance ministers makes many of the right noises on some of these issues.

Fiscal Follies

At the G 20 finance ministers meeting on March 14, all of our countries did their best and made massive efforts to repair their economic machinery as fast as possible.

Mr. Muhith (Bangladesh) said that his delegation associated itself with the statement made by the representative of Qatar on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. Despite some progress, some critical financial problems remained.

Meanwhile, the state lurches from fiscal tragedy to fiscal farce.

In this regard, the FIU has signed a number of memoranda of understanding, and is also a member of the Egmont Group, which comprises 74 financial intelligence units from other countries, with which Bolivia's FIU maintains close contact.

A Movable Financial Feast

Perhaps the G 20 will be a venue in which the big emerging market countries remind the US and the UK of the lesson they once knew but have now forgotten what it means to run a countercyclical fiscal policy.

Financial Gain, Economic Pain

Prescription Financial Products

Of no use was even my wealth .

My wealth did not in the least benefit me .

My wealth has not availed me ,

My riches have availed me not

My wealth has not availed me ,

My money cannot avail me .

My riches have not availed me ,

My wealth hath not availed me ,

My wealth did not avail me .

My wealth has not helped me a thing

My wealth has not availed me .

Our wealth is of no benefit to us

My wealth has availed me nothing

My wealth has been of no use to me .

Of no profit to me has been my wealth !

Financial concerns exist

The G 20 could not agree on coordinated fiscal stimulus or concrete steps towards banking reform. But it did coalesce behind the International Monetary Fund and provided it with additional resources.

In particular, there has been little action on issues like creating a cross border resolution authority to deal with the failure of a large financial group, something that can only be done at the international level.

They are suffering financial difficulties.