Group of 20 (G20) finance ministers and central bankers are meeting in London next Friday to consider coordinated steps aimed at rolling back the fiscal stimulus plans - amid signs that the global economic crisis is abating, according to dpa. The venue is Britain's Treasury building in the heart of London. The gathering of finance officials from the world's leading industrial nations and emerging economies will also serve as a precursor to the G20 summit later this month in the US city of Pittsburgh, hosted by President Barack Obama. Since the G20 ministers and central bankers last met in March, signs have emerged that some key economies are starting to shake off what has been the world's steepest recession in around six decades. This in turn seems to have given pause for thought about the drive for the far-reaching overhaul of global financial markets which was launched by the G20 last year - just as the recession was tightening its grip on the world economy. Indeed, the mood surrounding both the London meeting and the Pittsburgh summit is markedly different from last November - when the G20 leaders met in Washington just as the economic firestorm sparked by the US mortgage crisis was spreading around the world. Data released this week showed the manufacturing sector rebounding in the US, China, Germany and France. At the meeting, ministers and bankers are also expected to consider ways to clamp down on the bonuses paid to top bankers and to meet the G20 commitment to boost financial support for the International Monetary Fund. The total sum for the IMF so far falls short of the 500 billion euros (750 billion dollars) committed at the April summit by the G20, which includes Germany, France, Australia and Japan as well as China, India and Brazil. Paris and Berlin are also keen to ensure that the G20 presses on with moves to step up global financial market regulation. But the question of bonus payments and rigorous financial market regulation have served to highlight divisions between the key G20 members with Britain and the US keen to shield their financial markets in the City of London and Wall Street. Nevertheless, leading European Union states are determined that bank bonuses will be on the agenda both in London and Pittsburgh amid signs that some banks have begun rewarding their staff with generous payments following a pick up in financial markets in recent months. "Bankers are partying like it's 1999, and it's actually 2009. The bonus culture must come to an end, and it must come to an end in Pittsburgh," said Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg ahead of a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Wednesday. However, Britain in particular is sceptical about tough measures aimed at limiting bonuses on a global level. As part of the round of consultations ahead of the G20 Pittsburgh summit, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is due to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Sunday.
