U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will tell Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers on Friday that they should no longer rely on big-spending U.S. consumers to fuel global economic expansion. Geithner will outline “bold” efforts to stabilize the U.S. financial system, a senior Treasury Department official told a news conference on Thursday, noting that the global economy is in a severe recession. Geithner “will also speak about the need for a more balanced recovery and expansion where each nation is more focused on growth that is sustainable and not dependent on the U.S. consumer,” the official told reporters. Finance ministers and central bankers from the G7, which comprises the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, and Canada, meet in Washington on Friday afternoon before an evening session of the larger Group of Twenty (G20) that includes key emerging-market countries like China, India, Brazil, and South Korea. The U.S. official said Friday's meetings, which take place ahead of semi-annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, will move forward commitments made at an April meeting of G20 political leaders in London, including adding resources for the IMF and promoting global trade. “This is a meeting basically to follow up and to have good discussions abut the global economy and financial conditions,” the official said.
