G-7 finance ministers meeting: big guys warn recovery still ‘fragile’
Having finished meetings on the weekend, G-7 finance ministers warned that financial and economic recovery remained "fragile". The Group also cautioned against complacency, given limited growth and ongoing rises in global unemployment. US jobless numbers have hit a 26-year peak of 9.8%. The big boys of world economics also said talking up the dollar in response to fears of a decline could further disrupt the international economy. In a closing statement, officials said decisive moves by governments had improved conditions for the world economy and financial markets. US treasury secretary Tim Geithner said, “Planning for an eventual exit is the responsible and necessary thing to do, but we are not yet in the position where it would be prudent to withdraw fiscal and monetary policy support. Exit will not be like flipping a switch.” The US interest rate is almost at 0%, the Fed has added a trillion dollars to aid liquidity and the Obama administration has added almost $800 billion to prop up the nation’s economy via stimulus packages. Much of the rest of the world has done likewise. The result: faster-than-expected rebounds in growth. Although the dollar rate was not in the final statement, the group did talk up the exchange rate for the dollar during the meeting.
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