Brics calls on G20 for increased co-operation

16 November 2015 - 02:22 By Reuters

The Brics group of emerging nations yesterday called on the Group of 20 leading developed and developing nations to strengthen their macroeconomic policy cooperation to mitigate the negative effects of a weak global economy. The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, who met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the Turkish town of Antalya, said global economic recovery was not yet sustainable."[This] underlines the importance of strengthening macroeconomic policy co-ordination and co-operation between G20 members to avoid negative spillovers and to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth," the group said after the meeting.The Brics economies are struggling. China's growth is at its weakest since the 2008-2009 global financial crisis and recovering from extreme market volatility during the summer. Russia's economy, hit by sanctions for Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis plus declining commodity prices, has gone into recession for the first time since 2009.Many investors have pulled out of the once-vaunted Bric quartet due to years of collective underperformance.The group, which has struggled to build an economic and political partnership, condemned the terrorist attacks in Paris, vowing to strengthen co-operation between them, and with other nations, in the fight against terrorism.But the group stopped short of addressing another critical issue discussed at the G20 summit at the weekend - the Middle Eastern refugee crisis. All President Jacob Zuma said on the issue, when he addressed the group and commented on the attacks in Paris on Friday, was: "The attacks don't mean every refugee is a terrorist." ..

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