Washington - Brazil expects that the G20 summit in Washington on Saturday will end with an agreement on "greater regulation" in financial systems, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Friday. Mantega said the summit's goal, will be to establish "workgroups" with deadlines to "present results on, for example, how to regulate financial markets." They also expect a decision to hold such meetings more regularly.
The results should be handed in at a meeting that could take place "in late March or early April" in Britain, which will take over the presidency of the G20 from Brazil.
Amorin said that the next meeting could be ministerial like past G20 gatherings, or "presidential," like this weekend's summit called by US President George W Bush.
The final objective, he noted, is "to institutionalize the meeting of G20 leaders," which in the past have met only once a year.
Brazilian officials made it clear that they feel "regulation of the financial markets is necessary." The United States, for one, is against such a move.
Representatives of the government of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva noted that it would not be realistic to expect a definitive deal Saturday.
"Regulation is not something that you can achieve from one day to the next," Mantega said.
Brazil's finance minister insisted on the need for "quick action," but also stressed that confidence-building is needed and should be done through "clear rules and transparency."
"We have to regain the confidence of the markets so that the economic machinery keeps working," Amorim said.
He insisted on the importance of "not giving in to the temptation of protectionism," something that some analysts fear may happen in the United States under president-elect Barack Obama.
Lula arrived in Washington late Thursday and met with prime ministers Kevin Rudd of Australia, Taro Aso of Japan and Gordon Brown of Britain on Friday.
Later Friday, he was set to meet with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, before attending dinner at the White House. According to the seating plan, Lula was set to sit next to host Bush.
