G7 Ministers Pledge Continued Stimulus Spending

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven large industrialized countries pledged Saturday to continue government spending programs until an economic recovery is assured.

The ministers, meeting in Istanbul, said the recovery was still fragile and warned that high unemployment rates remain a concern along with volatile currency exchange rates.

Before the meeting, some officials said the weakness of the U.S. dollar, which has long been the world's main reserve currency, could undermine the global economic recovery.

In its final statement, the G7 - which includes the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan - said "disorderly movements" in the value of currencies will hurt economic and financial stability.

The dollar is used for key international transactions and to price commodities like oil, but the growing U.S. debt has caused the dollar to lose value in trading against other currencies.

The G7 statement welcomed China's commitment to a more flexible exchange rate, which could help promote more balanced trade.

A coalition of the world's developing countries, known as the Group of 24, also met on Saturday.

The G24 demanded that poorer nations be granted more power at key international economic organizations like the International Monetary Fund.

Last month, world leaders agreed to make the Group of 20 the world's premier decision making body on global economic issues.

G20 members include the United States, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mexico, France, Germany, the European Union, Argentina, Australia, Britain, Canada, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey.


Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.