World Bank chief Robert Zoellick announced plans on Tuesday for a new $50 billion (38-billion-euro) trade liquidity fund, urging G20 leaders to back it when they meet in London this week. Speaking two days before a summit of the Group of 20 developed and emerging economies, he said the fund would be a key part of plans by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who will host the gathering. “Today, the World Bank group's board is considering a new proposal: the launch of a 50-billion-dollar Global Trade Liquidity Program,” said Zoellick. “I hope the G20 leaders will endorse this trade liquidity initiative. G20 backing will help us gain more momentum,” he added. Last week Brown and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva proposed creating a $100 billion global fund to spur trade amid the world cash crunch during a pre-G20 summit trip by Brown. Zoellick said his call was the “cornerstone” of the fund proposed by Brown. The Global Trade Liquidity Program would combine a one-billion-dollar investment from the World Bank with financing from governments and regional development banks, he said. The G20 summit on Thursday is aimed at coordinating a response to the global economic crisis. It is widely expected to announce substantially increased funding for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Zoellick said that while he recognized the “critical need” for a strengthened IMF, he was concerned that poor, developing countries supported by the World Bank would be forgotten. “I do have some concern that the focus be not just on the IMF because that leaves the poor guys out,” he said. He reiterated his call for developed nations to invest 0.7 percent of their stimulus packages into a Vulnerability Fund to help developing nations. The problem with a meeting of the Group of 20 countries, he said, was that “it still leaves over 160 outside” - and those not at the table were among the nations hardest hit by the economic slump. He also called for G20 leaders to give the WB a greater role in monitoring national policies - “bringing sunlight to national decision-making would contribute to transparency, accountability and consistency.”
