ITALY: GROUP OF SEVEN RICHEST NATIONS (G7) SEEK TO CALM WORRIES OVER SLOWING GLOBAL ECONOMY

Record ID: 343189

  • Title: ITALY: GROUP OF SEVEN RICHEST NATIONS (G7) SEEK TO CALM WORRIES OVER SLOWING GLOBAL ECONOMY
  • Date: 9th July 2001
  • Summary: (W7) ROME, ITALY (JULY 7, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. GV ROME SKYLINE; SLV FLAGS (3 SHOTS) 0.11 2. SLV VILLA MADAMA WHERE MEETING WAS TAKING PLACE 0.16 3. SLV CAR ARRIVES; MV FRENCH FINANCE MINISTER LAURENT FABIUS ARRIVING 0.42 4. MV JAPANESE FINANCE MINISTER MASAJURO SHIOKAWA ARRIVING; SLV SECURITY (3 SHOTS) 1.02 5. MV BRITISH CHAN
  • Embargoed: 24th July 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ROME, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Reuters ID: LVA4CQ4HAVIUPEJBFIACRHSSM11D
  • Story Text: The Group of Seven (G7) richest nations have sought to
    calm worries over a slowing global economy and cool a
    transatlantic spat about who was most responsible for ensuring
    a recovery.

    Designed to set the stage for a world leaders summit in
    Genoa later this month, the finance ministers who met in Rome
    on Saturday (July 7) aimed to give out a coordinated line on
    global growth despite friction between the United States and
    Europe over who should do most to prop up the economy.

    Before the meeting Germany and France reacted sharply to
    U.S. suggestions they were not taking what Treasury Secretary
    Paul ONeill described as a locomotive role in the world
    economy.

    The spat came amid renewed volatility on global financial
    markets and concerns about how slow the U.S. economy has been
    to react to the Federal Reserve's six interest rate cuts this
    year and the Bush administrations 1.35 trillion US dollar
    tax-cut programme.

    British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown steered
    clear of the tiff between Washington and continental Europe
    and said all members had to play an equal part in supporting
    the economy.

    "And its for these reasons: America with its cuts in
    interests rates; Japan with its program of economic reform;
    Europe also with its program of economic reform; Britain with
    the cuts we've seen in interests rates, we can all play a part
    in restoring growth in the world economy and at the same time
    steering a course of stability in what are, necessarily as a
    result of the slowdown in America and elsewhere, more
    uncertain times," said Brown.

    Speaking after the meeting Treasury Secretary Paul O'
    Neill said he had told his counterparts the U.S. economy was
    working its way through a correction but would return to
    higher rates of real growth fairly soon.

    O'Neill said the finance ministers had found a great
    degree of agreement among themselves on their desire for
    stronger growth and said there were not great differences of
    opinion among them.

    "In every case where we might have had a difference of
    opinion, when we spend enough time to talk together and spend
    enough time defining terms, the differences disappear," O'Neill
    said.

    Echoing his view, French finance minister Laurent Fabius
    said, "The main word today was cooperation, each of us must
    make our best in order to bring our share towards the recovery
    of growth".


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