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G7 communique to call for more global balance-draft

WASHINGTON: Top finance officials from the Group of Seven major industrial nations on Saturday called for more action to balance lopsided world growth, even as they expressed relief that global economic prospects had improved.

The draft of a statement expected to be released later on Saturday, after a meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bankers, did not make any specific reference to a sharp plunge in U.S. stock markets on Friday.

The draft was obtained by Reuters as the meeting was still underway. A section on developments in currency markets, which usually is included in the final version of such G7 statements, was left blank.

"Prospects for expansion in industrial countries and the world economy more generally continued to brighten," the draft said. "Further action is needed to promote a more balanced and therefore more sustainable pattern of growth among our economies."

Mirroring concerns expressed by the G7 at its previous meeting in Tokyo in January, the group said Japan's economy had yet to achieve a "secure" recovery, noting that Japanese authorities remained committed to providing ample liquidity until deflationary concerns in the world's number two economy subside.-Reuters