Rendezvous in Halifax

Every year, the leaders of the seven major industrial countries gather for a summit meeting, whether needed or not, and issue a communique long on vague promises and short on concrete commitments. This year's meeting, which begins on Thursday in Halifax, Nova Scotia, may prove a modest exception. A draft of the final statement includes some proposals that deserve support. The first would enhance the role of the International Monetary Fund in monitoring and responding to economic problems that develop in member countries. The need for more engagement was shown when the fund, along with the United States, bailed out Mexico and prevented financial turbulence from spreading through Latin America.

The seven leaders are likely to urge the fund to develop standards for monitoring financial data from member nations that would provide early warning signs of trouble. Monitoring itself is a useful, though limited, step. It would be even better for nations to publish the data, which the leaders will urge, and for the fund to make public its analysis. That way private investors could, by withdrawing funds, discipline countries that pursue imprudent policies. So far the fund's members have rejected public scrutiny.

The leaders will also propose giving the monetary fund more money to aid countries under financial siege, a need highlighted by the drain on the fund's reserves from the Mexican bailout. Beyond these measures, the draft obliquely calls for studying a reform proposed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard. He wants the fund to act more like a bankruptcy judge and less like a lender using taxpayer money. The idea is to give the fund the authority to hold foreign creditors at bay, while issuing guarantees that make it possible for private lenders to provide money to a bankrupt government while it puts economic reforms in place. The idea is attractive, but needs study before it can be translated into a workable plan.

Another useful step the leaders might take is to provide Ukraine additional money to support the impressive market reforms it initiated last year. The leaders pledged $4 billion to Ukraine last year if it adopted fund-approved reforms. Ukraine obliged by freeing prices, bringing down its deficit and lowering inflation. But its government needs more help to boost the economy.

The final communique, as always, will call on governments to coordinate economic policies. The promise will be abandoned the minute domestic politics dictate otherwise. The leaders will probably duck a proposal to use gold held by the fund to relieve the debt of desperately poor countries. There will also likely be inconclusive talk about Bosnia, and meetings with President Boris Yeltsin of Russia, who wants to join the industrial nations' club. To avoid unpleasantness, President Clinton and Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama of Japan plan to touch only glancingly on Washington's plan to impose trade sanctions on Japan at the end of the month.

Still, these meetings rarely do much harm, and this year the leaders seem headed toward doing some good.

-- The New York Times