The Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank chiefs vowed Saturday to help stabilize volatile situations in financial markets but stopped short of proposing concrete measures, including unified interest rate cuts, to fend off a global recession.
"We stand ready to take any further action necessary to enhance stability in the financial market," the financial chiefs said in a joint statement released after their one-day session in Tokyo. Despite expectations from market watchers and analysts for coordinated action, however, the statement did not mention any measures.
Commenting on the global economy, the G7 said the world faces a "more challenging and uncertain" environment than when they last gathered in Washington in October. "In all our economies, to varying degrees, growth is expected to slow somewhat in the short term, reflecting wider global economic and financial developments," the statement said.