European Union finance ministers and central bank governors gather in Slovenia on Friday for a two-day informal meeting expected to focus on financial stability and the current global financial crisis.
Financial stability is expected to top the agenda on the first day of the meeting at Brdo pri Kranju, in a suburb of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana.
Finance chiefs and central bankers from the EU's 27 nations will examine how the financial industry ran into trouble and what they can do to supervise the financial industry and prevent future cross-border financial crises.
The financial crisis, which erupted on the U.S. subprime mortgage market, shows few signs of abating.
The crisis, which is also having an impact on the EU economy, is compounded by soaring inflation that reached a record 3.5 percent in the eurozone in March, well above the 2 percent guideline of the European Central Bank. This was coupled with news of deteriorating business sentiment in the eurozone.
As part of the efforts to tackle such crises, the ministers, governors and heads of supervisory bodies will sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on the management of cross-border crises. It will include general principles, practical guidelines and an analytical framework for action.
Over lunch the ministers will be joined by the heads of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank for a debate on how to streamline assistance to the Western Balkans.
There are currently over 20 different instruments of assistance to the region, and Slovenia, which currently holds the EU presidency, has re-launched a debate on how to make funding simpler and more efficient.
The second day of the meeting will be devoted to discussing measures to improve the quality of public finances, a priority of the successive EU presidencies of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia.
The ministers are also expected to adopt a common EU position to be advocated at the forthcoming spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Prior to the meeting, 15 countries of the Euro group will hold a separate meeting to be chaired by Luxembourg Finance Minister Jean-Claude Juncker. The meeting will discuss euro's record-breaking run on foreign exchange markets which damages euro exports to the U.S. such as German cars and French luxury goods.
Source: Xinhua
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