G7 talks weak global recovery

Finance ministers from the world's top seven industrialised (G7) nations admitted on Saturday that the recovery from the global recession is still weak. However, they said governments would continue with stimulus spending to speed up the recovery process.

Finance ministers from the world's top seven industrialised (G7) nations admitted on Saturday that the recovery from the global recession is still weak. However, they said governments would continue with stimulus spending to speed up the recovery process.

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In a statement issued on Saturday, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet also said he believed Greece would meet tough new targets to rein in its budget gap. Greece aims to slash its budget deficit of 13 per cent of GDP to below 3 per cent in 2012.

World markets slumped to three-month lows on Friday on fear that the crisis would spread.

Officials from the G7 also said support was rising for a levy on banks that could pay for global governments’ rescue of the financial system. But such a levy would have to be designed so it did not derail a tentative economic recovery, they said.