New regulations for the functioning of the world economy should be drawn up by the widest possible international representation, including up to the level of the United Nations, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday.
Speaking at the closing session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Medvedev said he supported the opinion of his Finnish counterpart Tarja Halonen, who said such issues would be better discussed in a broad format like the G20 or at least the G8.
“That is absolutely fair, because even the G20 which accounts for 85 percent of world GDP, can’t claim exclusivity,” Medvedev said. “It should take into account the opinions of all nations, and devise universal recommendations and then, quite possibly, take these to the UN.”
Medvedev acknowledged his mistake in initially being skeptical in his estimation of the ability of the world community to act collectively against the global crisis which struck in 2008. He said he was impressed by the collective action taken, but stressed that it must continue.
Among the measures that remained to be worked out, he cited the redistribution of quotas in multilateral financial institutions including the IMF and World Bank, to the benefit of countries with rapidly developing economies, and modernization of the rules of financial regulation, which he described as “archaic.”
“Audit, accounting – a blank sheet! Practically nothing has been done,” Medvedev said, adding that a financial crisis could return.