Author of the Summit, US President George W Bush said that the global finance ministers would now work on detailed reform proposals, and then report back. Bush's successor in the White House, Barack Obama, who stayed away form the meet, said in a statement that he was ready to work "together on these challenges" with the G20 when he takes office in January. "The president-elect believes that the G20 summit is an important opportunity to seek a coordinated response to the global financial crisis," said a statement issued in his name.

In his address at the end of the summit, Bush said there was no doubt the financial crisis facing the US and many other countries were a severe one. He said it had even been conceivable that the US "could go into a depression greater than the Great Depression". "We are adapting our financial systems to the realities of the 21st century," he said. Speaking after the summit, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the group had reached important conclusions "about trade, about financial stability and about the expansion of our economies".

In 2006 the theme of the G-20 meeting was "Building and Sustaining Prosperity". The issues discussed included domestic reforms to achieve "sustained growth", global energy and resource commodity markets, 'eform' of the World Bank and IMF, and the impact of demographic changes due to an aging population. G20 leaders say they will meet again by 30 April, 2009, to review progress. The next summit looks set to be held in London, with US President-elect Obama attending. Although no formal decision has been announced, France's President, Nicholas Sarkozy, made it clear that he expects London to be chosen as the venue.

Revamping Financial Structures    

Together, the G-20 economies make up 90 percent of global gross national product, 80 percent of world trade and two-thirds of the world's population. This gathering of 20 nations also is a reminder that the smaller club of rich nations known as the Group of Eight has failed to stop the financial disaster. The meeting was intended to send reassuring signals to global financial markets that a coordinated global rescue and recovery are on the way. The danger is that the hastily organized summit, hosted by a lame-duck US president, also conveys a subliminal message of discord over the future of the global economy. The Bush administration initially wasn't enthusiastic about this weekend's meeting to discuss the global financial crisis. Having fouled the global economic nest, America must now work with other nations to clean it up.

Generally, the summit mood was one of restructuring global financing infrastructures. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the global financial structures created at the end of WWII were now inadequate. "It will be necessary to rebuild the whole international financial architecture, make it open and fair, effective and legitimate". The stalled Doha round of global trade talks should be pushed forward so that a basic agreement can be reached before President Bush leaves office in January, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "If there is the political will, it would be good if we could reach an agreement in the Doha round with the present US administration." For the leading emerging economies, the significance of this G20 summit was clear - they now have to be taken into consideration in the management of the global economy. Brazil's President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said: "We are talking about the G20 because the G8 doesn't have any more reason to exist."

Any overall economic stimulus plan requires corresponding reforms in every member-country of G-20 - a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 economies: 19 of the world's largest national economies, plus the European Union (EU). The G-20, which superseded the G33, which had itself superseded the G22, was foreshadowed at the Cologne Summit of the G7 in June 1999, but was formally established at the G7 Finance Ministers' meeting on September 26, 1999. The inaugural meeting took place on December 15-16, 1999 in Berlin. The G-20, grouping of developed and developing countries, operates without a permanent secretariat or staff. The chair rotates annually among the members and is selected from a different regional grouping of countries and it is a forum for cooperation and consultation on matters pertaining to the international financial system. It studies, reviews, and promotes discussion among key industrial and emerging market countries of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability, and seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization.

Agreements

Key issues agreed by world leaders at the summit included: "¢ reform of international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund "¢ an agreement by the end of 2008, leading to a successful global free-trade deal "¢ improvements to financial market transparency and ensuring complete and accurate disclosure by firms of their financial conditions "¢ making sure banks and financial institutions' incentives "prevent excessive risk taking" "¢ asking finance ministers to draw-up a list of financial institutions whose collapse would endanger the global economic system "¢ strengthening countries' financial regulatory regimes "¢ taking a "fresh look" at rules that govern market manipulation and fraud.

As G7 it was a rich-country affair with Russia invited in during in the 1990s - but that was to tackle international political issues, not for the sake of a contribution to the economic discussions. How times have changed. A global economic problem needed a presence from developing country leaders. The communiqué issued after the summit is not on its own going to change the world. It is still up to each country to decide what to do, but the communiqué provides some cover if they face criticism at home - and there are risks associated with tax cuts and spending boosts for countries whose government finances are already strained. The political machinery of the global economy is not going to be turned upside down, although those big developing countries at the summit are beginning to get a tentative grip on the levers.

There is without doubt going to be an economic downturn - a recession in many countries and period of slower economic growth for most, perhaps all others.

A co-ordinated response is likely to be more effective in limiting its severity and duration. On the short-term aim of limiting the fallout from the financial crisis, there was a call for co-operation in economic policy, and for countries to use the government finances to stimulate growth. Changes to financial regulation will be at the heart of that. The longer-term problem is reducing the risks of a re-run of the events that gave us the current crisis. Changes to financial regulation will be at the heart of that. The idea is to have banking regulation that does not exacerbate the cycle of boom and bust - indeed the aim is to moderate it.

Financial Impact  

One does not know if the entire US brokered exercise was to slash oil prices, but that has happened as a trickling effect of the G20 summit in US capital. Japan became the latest major country to fall into recession as global economic fears deepened after a Washington summit offered markets scant hope for action to contain the damage. Markets showed little initial enthusiasm for a vague pledge on Saturday from Group of 20 leaders to join forces to galvanize growth and overhaul the world's financial architecture.

"The economic spillover of the financial crisis has increased and there is uncertainty about when conditions will stop getting worse," said Matsumoto, chief fore strategist at Sumitomo Trust Bank. Major European stock exchanges fell at the opening of trade, following a mixed performance in Asia, but later pared their losses. The yen strengthened as risk-averse investors, despite news of a Japanese recession, sought shelter in what they saw as a safe currency. In London the FTSE 100 index was down 0.11 percent at mid-morning while Paris had edged up 0.34 percent and Frankfurt 0.18 percent. Stocks closed down 2.5 percent in Sydney and 0.9 percent in Seoul, while Hong Kong was 0.4 percent lower in late trade. Tokyo managed to eke out a gain of 0.7 percent as investors hunted for bargains. Chinese share prices closed with a gain of 2.22 percent, led by airlines following reports that two of the nation's biggest carriers could get government aid. The head of the International Monetary Fund meanwhile told the BBC that the IMF, which offers credits to cash-strapped countries that agree to strict reforms, would likely need an extra 100 billion dollars to meet appeals for help over the next six months.

News that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may wait until its meeting on December 17, instead of the end of November, to make a decision on whether to cut production targets again also weighed on prices. Oil fell more than $1 to below $56 a barrel now, close to its lowest in almost two years, after a meeting of the Group of 20 major economies ended with few concrete proposals on dealing with global recession. U.S. light crude for December fell $1.44, or 2.5 percent, to a low of $55.60 a barrel before recovering a little too around $56.16 by 0905 GMT. Last Thursday, U.S. crude reached a low of $54.67 a barrel, its weakest since January 2007. London Brent crude fell $0.77 to $53.47. The after-effect is still on

Post-script                 

USA insists on strictly following "market principles" squeezing the public sector economies of each and every country passing on to the capitalist multi-milliners for their "effective" use.  While the advanced economic giants continue to dictate terms to the rest of the world, the leaders of emerging economies feel the summit marked a historic shift of power away from the richer countries.

Russia has done away with communism, but refusal to embrace the capitalist economic rules by China in Toto has certainly annoyed USA which is keen to bind China, Russia and other developing strong economies to adhere to private capitalist norms and possible wants the state to use terrorist methods to keep the big business thrive. The only major mixed communist economy, China is likely to be the key to any reforms agreed, to actively participate in rescue activities for this international financial crisis. With nearly $2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves and an economy that is still expanding, albeit at a slower pace, it is one of the few countries attending that has the cash to help countries in distress. However, in exchange China is likely to want to hold more power at the IMF, which is dominated by the US and the EU. USA does not show any inclination for that.

Along side the economic stimulus plan procedures being adopted, the G20 move is intended to protect the transnational private economy and stopped short of announcing specific steps such as coordinated stimulus spending. However, the world would have to wait until the Obama Barack assumes office in January for future financial and other actions. The European leaders, in particular, would rather wait for the follow-up meeting which the French President is already signaling to convene shortly after Obama's inauguration. So it might just be that the summit might not lead to some significant action.

The summit, however, did fail to come out with a concrete proposal anticipated for a suitable economic stimulus plan to contain recurrent global economic crises thanks to US financial crisis. The process of power transfer in Washington has its own impact on world affairs, including G20. The economic world is looking forward to hearing from the president-elect Obama Barack. The ball is obviously in the court of USA, Obama has to first enter the court to sort out the problems one by one.