We will now work with other relevant institutions that could be responsible for developing similar standards in areas such as accounting, auditing, disclosure, asset valuation, bankruptcy, and corporate governance. We will also consider how to disseminate such standards to member countries through our surveillance and encourage their adoption. Working with so many institutions, public and private, in addition to our 182 member countries, will be an ambitious undertaking, but we are ready - and enthusiastic - to play our full part in this new chapter in international cooperation. In the meantime, the IMF has been applying this standards approach to one of its traditional domains of expertise: fiscal policy. Last winter, following the suggestion of the Chancellor of Exchequer, the IMF developed a code of good practices on fiscal transparency to which members will be encouraged to adhere. Looking ahead, we plan to develop a similar code with respect to financial and monetary policies in cooperation with the appropriate institutions. this regard and suggested delaying the Fund’s reviews of member economies when deficiencies in disclosing relevant information to the IMF seriously impede our surveillance. Indeed, the G-7 countries have the opportunity this week to establish leadership by pledging to convey to the IMF and to publish comprehensive and timely data on both gross and net reserves, including reserve-related liabilities and central bank derivative transactions and positions, as well as external debt and data on banking and financial sector health.

In view of the enormous human and economic cost of the Asian crisis, no wonder we hear many radical suggestions as to how to avoid such losses in the future. There are calls for us to do a better job of predicting and preventing crises, addressing their social impact more effectively, stopping speculators and properly regulating this “casino economy”, seeing to it that investors bear the full costs of their mistakes, stabilizing the international monetary system, providing for more political accountability of our institution, etc., etc. We cannot deny the basic justification of these - at times vociferous - calls for change. No doubt there are at least some elements of validity in each of them. Taken together they tell us that, at this stage, world public opinion expects its leaders to design and build a new, common house with an audaciously modern architecture, and not limit themselves to some plumbing and interior decorating of the old mansion. But, as responsible architects, let us start by recognizing the building blocks at hand. Indeed, they are substantial. Seven building blocks The first of these building blocks is the tremendous potential for growth and prosperity globalization provides countries fully integrating into the global economy. Formidable sources of dynamism are there, engendered by new information technologies and unifying financial markets. The question, then, is how to discipline and channel these forces so that growth will be sustainable and more broadly shared and the fundamental desire for greater equity will be more fully satisfied. The second building block is integration.