MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Portugal hosts Latam ministerial meeting before G-20

Portugal will host in March a meeting of Finance ministers and Central Bank presidents from Latinamerica and Spain to coordinate a joint position regarding the current global recession, said the Portuguese Finance ministry on Thursday.

During the two days forum (March 1 and 2) delegates will discuss reforms to the world financial system, government stimulus packages and their impacts and the role of multilateral financial institutions, said the official release. The meeting's objective is to contribute to "a coordinated reply to the global economic and financial crisis", before the coming G-20 summit to be held in London hosted by PM Gordon Brown next April. World leaders, President Barack Obama's first will be meeting in London, with Latinamerica represented by Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. The World Bank vice-president and the head of the Inter-American Development Bank have anticipated their attendance to the Lisbon meeting in March. Portugal will also be hosting this year the Ibero-American leaders summit, which includes Latinamerica, Spain and Portugal.