BusinessEurope called on the Group of 7 finance ministers and central bankers to find solutions "within the sphere of multilateral consultations, and notably with clear commitments in the G-7".
Consequently, it has yet to be seen whether the recent mandate given the IMF to undertake multilateral consultations with a view toward narrowing the global imbalances while maintaining global economic growth reflects enlightened responsibility by the major players or is merely one more trick on their part to deflect responsibility.
The fund's last multilateral consultation, to discuss global imbalances, was held in 2006.
From 2006, the IMF also oversaw something it called "multilateral consultation".
The multilateral consultation was supposed to nudge America into narrowing its current-account deficit and push China into cutting its surplus.
Alarmed by the threat, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is calling for a multilateral consultation — involving the United States, Europe, China and other financial powers — to develop a coordinated response to the crisis.
In other words, Mr Osborne's speech advocated something remarkably similar to the multilateral consultation, even as it dismissed the diplomatic effort of which it was part.The Fed will not change its monetary policy for the sake of emerging economies.
Furthermore, only 25% of the 18 fast tracks assessed had a software programme in place that allowed for the recording and multilateral consultation of clinical information based on suspicion of cancer, which would normally make for the smooth running of the interface at an operational level.
A procession of world leaders was either on the way or on the phone to Washington seeking to convince the White House that only a multilateral approach based on consultation, hard evidence and United Nations support would justify the use of military power in response to the devastating attacks last week.
February 2007: After months of bilateral and small group consultations, Lamy declares multilateral negotiations in Geneva back in full swing.
I believe that giving a chance to dialogue does not mean that if, after having tried we arrive at the conclusion that we have not succeeded, it should not give us another opportunity at another time and then allow whatever consultation - bilateral, multilateral - would facilitate the process.
