British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday said the International Monetary Fund should be equipped with "early warning system" for maintaining order in the global economy.
"In a wider role the IMF -- working with the Financial Stability Forum -- should be at the heart of an early warning system for financial turbulence affecting the global economy," Brown said in his meeting with the leaders of Indian and British industry in New Delhi.
After the Asian crisis, the international community had set up the Financial Stability Forum to better understand financial markets and their interactions.
Brown's remarks came on a day when the Indian stock market tumbled by 1,408.35 points -- the biggest single-day loss -- shaving off over Rs 6 trillion from investors' wealth on concerns of US slowdown enveloping the global economy.
The US economy with a huge 3.5 trillion dollar world trade is considered to be accounting for 25 per cent of the global consumer spending. Brown proposed that the IMF should focus on "surveillance of the global economic and financial system and thus prevent crises, not just resolve them".
It should develop a financial instrument able to provide insurance to well managed economies against sudden reversals of capital flows. Seeking changes in the structures of the IMF, World Bank and G-8 club of rich nations to reflect rise of India and Asia, Brown said these institutions should be equipped for a world where national problems can quickly become global.
"Contagion can move as swiftly as the fastest communication," he said. Noting that India was making powerful contribution to the world economy, Brown said, "In the last 15 years you have doubled your national income".
© 2025