Economic powers pledge to stymie terrorist funding

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Sunday, April 21, 2002

WASHINGTON -- The world's top economic powers, confidently predicting that the global economy was on the mend, agreed Saturday on better cooperation to choke off terrorists' financing.

They also released a plan to improve the handling of international bankruptcy cases such as Argentina's massive debt default.

Finance officials from the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada said in a joint statement that they were optimistic that last year's global slowdown, the worst in a decade, had ended.

"Economic recovery from the slowdown is under way," officials from the seven wealthy nations said in a joint statement. They said they found "prospects for the global economy more positive than a few months ago."

The statement was issued after morning discussions led by Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

The group said there were growing signs of an economic recovery, but that "downside risks" remain.

They cited the recent surge in oil prices with heightened tensions in the Middle East and the deepening economic crisis in Argentina. That country was forced in December to default on its massive $141 billion foreign debt, the biggest government default in history.

The joint statement did not mention another dispute: An effort by the United States to increase World Bank aid in the form of grants, rather than loans that must be repaid.

European countries contend that proposal would reduce the amount of money available for future assistance to the world's poorest nations unless wealthy countries agreed to increase their support.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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