G7 Hopes To End Downturn

01/04/2001| IslamWeb

ROME (Islamweb & Agencies) - The Group of Seven economic powers put aside differences on Saturday to issue a cautiously upbeat message on the prospects for pulling through the current global downturn.G7 finance ministers said after talks in Rome that it was up to the major economic zones -- North America, Europe and Japan -- to play their part to boost world growth, despite overt tensions over how the responsibility would be shared out.
Experts said the U.S. economy, stalled since the latter half of 2000, could return to a more robust annual two percent rate of expansion by the end of this year and even three percent going into next year.
A GLOSS ON TENSIONS
Meanwhile ministers from Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and -- to a lesser extent -- Britain, put a gloss of cohesion on talks that were preceded by statements pointing out serious disagreement between Washington and Europe.
U.S. urgings for Europe and Japan to do more about the woes of the world prompted a blunt riposte on the eve of the talks from French Finance Minister Laurent Fabius, who said the main cause of the slowdown was the U.S. downturn, along with high oil prices.
COORDINATED LINE
There was no official communique of the kind often published after such gatherings as the ministers came to Rome to pave the way for a summit of G7 leaders in Genoa on July 20-22.
But the finance ministers aimed to communicate a coordinated line. Italy, host and current G7 president, printed up remarks for ministers to use to brief the press.
JAPAN WEAK ``FOR A WHILE''
Japan was exhorted yet again by its partners to push through structural economic reforms such as deregulation and to fight against deflation in a country currently fighting with total economic stagnation.
But Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Japan's economic upturn was likely to remain weak ``for a while.''
Japan has effectively declared its economy in a technical recession by forecasting a weaker tone in the April-June quarter than the 0.2 percent contraction in the previous quarter.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Finance ministers for the Group of Seven nations pose for a photo during their meeting at the Villa Madama in Rome July 7, 2001. Shown are (L-R) Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill, France's Finance Minister Laurent Fabius, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, Italy's Minister of Economy and Finance Giulio Tremonti and Japan's Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa. (Dylan Martinez/Reuters)