http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8098886.stm
Big economies 'stabilising' - G8
The world's largest economies are beginning to stabilise but still face major
risks amid an ongoing global recession, G8 finance ministers say.
At a meeting in Italy of G8 nations, the ministers said stock markets were
rising, interest rates more stable, and consumer confidence was returning.
However, US Treasury chief Tim Geithner led warnings that it was too early to
wind down economic stimulus packages.
He said they should remain in place until a global recovery was under way.
At the meeting in Lecce, which aimed to lay the groundwork for a full G8 heads
of government conference next month in the earthquake-hit town of L'Aquila, the
finance ministers conceded that the global situation "remains uncertain".
"Significant risks remain to economic and financial stability," the ministers
said in a statement released at the end of their meeting.
It highlighted the possibility that unemployment could continue to rise even
after output growth resumes.
Joint problems
But they agreed a joint statement which offered signs of hope after nine months
of gloomy economic news.
"We have taken forceful and co-ordinated action to stabilise the financial
sector and provide stimulus to restore economic growth and there are signs of
stabilisation in our economies," the statement said.
Mr Geithner said the "early signs" were encouraging, but injected a note of
caution.
"The global economy is still operating well below potential and we still face
acute challenges," he said.
"I don't think we're at the point yet where we can say we have a recovery in
place," Mr Geithner warned, saying it was "too early" to move away from the
interventionist economic policies put in place around the world since the
banking crisis of September 2008.
UK Chancellor Alastair Darling said Britain's economic prospects remained
linked to those of other G8 nations.
"A lot will depend on other countries making progress: on cleaning up their
bank balance sheets; volatility in commodity prices, oil for example. So I
think there are reasons to be cautious," he told Reuters news agency.
The meeting comes two months after a full G8 heads of government meeting in
London agreed to inject billions of dollars into the global economy.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
