George Osborne calls on G20 to tackle bank rules

Chancellor George Osborne today said it was vital that finance ministers "end uncertainty over bank capital rules" as he arrived at the G20 meeting in South Korea.

Osborne and his fellow finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the world's leading economies are aiming to agree new capital adequacy and liquidity rules to make taxpayer bailouts less likely in any future crisis.

G20 leaders agreed outline plans last September, but banks have lobbied hard for new rules to be introduced over a longer time frame.

There is also considerable uncertainty over how G20 will deal with banks trading on their own account and how this should be separated from retail banking.

Osborne also made it clear that the meeting must focus on the economic problems in the eurozone which led to the Greece bailout.

"Countries with high budget deficits need to make sure they can deal with those deficits. Surplus countries also need to play their part contributing to global growth and that will be one of the big topics for discussion in South Korea," he said.

Osborne said that, while immediate liquidity problems had been addressed, questions remain whether heavily-indebted countries will be able to push through the scale of fiscal tightening required.