Geithner: Leaders pledge growth to weather Europe’s debt crisis
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner spoke held a press conference regarding his meeting with finance ministers earlier in the day today at the Hawai'i Convention Center.
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CTY - Members of the APEC Financial Ministerial, including US Department of Treasury head Timothy Geithner, right, pose for a photo at the conclusion of the APEC Finance Ministerial and Working Luncheon on Thursday, November 10, 2011 at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser).
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CTY - Members of the APEC Financial Ministerial gathering pose for a photo at the conclusion of the APEC Finance Ministerial and Working Luncheon on Thursday
Finance ministers meeting at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum pledged to strengthen growth in their countries to help the global economy weather the debt crisis in Europe, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said today.
"We are all directly affected by the crisis in Europe, but the economies gathered here are in a better position than most to take steps to strengthen growth in the face of these pressures from Europe," Geithner said at a news conference at the APEC meeting.
As the United States continues to recover from its own recession, and Europe confronts a period of slower growth, Asian economies will need to do more to stimulate domestic demand growth, Geithner said.
Finance ministers at the meeting concentrated on making progress in a number of areas, including achieving a more balanced trade environment.
Toward this end Chinese authorities acknowledged the need to allow their currency to trade more freely, Geithner said.
The U.S. and other trading partners of China have complained that China’s policy of artificially suppressing the value of the yuan gives Chinese manufacturers an unfair advagtage in the global marketplace because it makes their products cheaper relative to products of other countries that do not manipulate their currencies.
