Reply #22: G-7 Confident Global Trade, Growth Gaps Shrinking (Update2)

[54anickel]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aOSizBkRg8XM&refer=india

April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven nations said they are confident disparities in global trade and growth are starting to narrow, a trend that will extend the strongest expansion since the 1970s.

The G-7 said in a statement yesterday that world growth is now more even, offsetting a slowdown in the U.S. Asian and European economies picked up in the past year, narrowing the U.S. trade deficit and putting the world economy on course to grow about 5 percent this year, the International Monetary Fund said this week.

The world's richest nations pledged to take steps to protect the expansion by reducing labor regulations and budget deficits. The finance chiefs also intensified a plea for a conclusion to global trade talks and reiterated that Asian nations must make their currencies more flexible.

``The first message is that global imbalances have started to diminish,'' French Finance Minister Thierry Breton said after G-7 officials met in Washington. ``The future will hinge on structural reforms and budget policies to lower imbalances further.''

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