French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, one of the participants in the western city of Osaka, urged nations to work together to provide more information about oil reserves to calm upward pressures on oil prices.
"We need more information," Lagarde said on the sidelines of the G-8 gathering. "We shouldn't rush into the adoption of measures without having tested them first."
Among one-on-one meetings, Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga was scheduled to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Later in the day, Nukaga was expected to appear with a U.S. official to outline an initiative for Climate Investment Funds being administered by the World Bank to help developing nations battle global warming, according to the Japanese government.
Nukaga told reporters Friday ahead of the G-8 that he planned to discuss "various economic issues" with Paulson, including possibly exchange rates.
The dollar has recently recovered to about 108 yen. But that came only after Paulson warned this week that he isn't ruling out intervention to stabilize the currency, and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested the Fed is prepared to raise rates to fight inflation.
Dollar weakness has in part pushed up oil prices as some traders invest in oil as a hedge against inflation and a slumping greenback. A declining dollar can also erode the value of exports from Japan and Europe to the U.S. when earnings are repatriated.
The G-8 session — bringing together finance ministers from the U.S., Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada — is one of several ministerial meetings leading up to the July 7-9 leaders' summit on the northern island of Hokkaido.
G-8 finance ministers are having dinner with their counterparts and other officials from Australia, Brazil, China, South Korea, South Africa and Thailand to weigh the impact of surging oil and food prices on the global economy, the Ministry of Finance said.
Oil spiked to nearly US$140 a barrel last week, and several Asian countries, including India, Indonesia and Malaysia, have cut fuel subsidies, raising retail prices for millions of consumers.
The world is also grappling with an emerging food crisis as prices of corn, wheat, rice, soybeans and other agriculture products have been spiraling higher. The gains are due to a mixture of factors including high oil prices, changing diets, urbanization, expanding populations, extreme weather, growth in biofuel production and speculation.
The food price hikes have set off riots and protests from Africa to Asia and raised fears about a global food crisis that could cause millions more people to suffer malnutrition.
Japanese Economy Minister Hiroko Ota expressed worries about the U.S. economy and said she hoped that the G-8 participants will be able to work together to stabilize tumultuous financial markets.
She said the tax rebates recently sent to 130 million American households should help the health of the U.S. economy, but still sent a cautionary note.
"It is necessary to keep a close watch," she told reporters.
From iht.com
