G20 Nears Agreement on Enlarging IMF, Cracking Down on Tax Havens  བོད་སྐད།

The world's 20 major economies are nearing an agreement to revive the global economy by enlarging the International Monetary Fund and cracking down on tax havens.

Officials attending a Group of 20 summit in London Thursday say member states have agreed to give the IMF $500 billion in extra money to help countries worst hit by the global crisis.

British Finance Secretary Stephen Timms says Group of 20 leaders also are expected to agree on sanctions against countries that provide tax havens to the wealthy.

France and Germany have led calls to crack down on tax havens that they say allow wealthy people to avoid paying their fair share at a time of growing economic hardship.

Officials say the G20 also are close to agreement on raising funds to support global trade, which has declined due to a lack of credit for settling transactions.

Group of 20 leaders did not discuss Russian and Chinese proposals for a new global currency system that reduces the dollar's supremacy in financial affairs.

Russian officials quote President Dmitri Medvedev as saying the currency proposals should be discussed in the months after the G20 summit.

The United States and Britain have said the Group of 20 should agree on more government spending to spur economic growth. But, France and Germany have pushed to make tighter financial regulations the primary focus.

The G20 members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, Britain, the United States and the European Union.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.