Prime minister bats for common standards to be implemented in all jurisdictions.

If the richer decided to concentrate on the Greek tragedy and let the development agenda take a back seat on the opening day of the G20 summit here, the Indian government made it clear that any bailout should not reduce developing countries to bystanders and increase their cost of capital through a levy of a tax on the financial sector.

In his address to the summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said although India supported the International Monetary Fund (IMF) playing its part in restoring stability to Europe, it must also keep in mind the liquidity requirements of developing countries, “who are not at the centre of the crisis but may nevertheless be adversely affected as innocent bystanders”.

The European Union and IMF had last week announced plans to provide a ¤22 billion ($29.5 billion) safety net to prevent a Greek sovereign default on its bonds next month. Briefing journalists, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman, Planning Commission, and India’s sherpa to G20, said the IMF had about $250 billion in resources that were free. He said the multilateral lending agency should ensure that when it lends to one country, it also has resources for other countries.

That India’s concern was different from the top cream, dominated by crisis-ridden Europe, became clear when Singh said that in an integrated world, there should be common standards implemented simultaneously in all jurisdictions, to avoid a race to the bottom. For more visit: Business Standard

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