Financial chiefs from the Group of 20 advanced and major developing economies were to gather Friday and Saturday in South Korea to discuss measures to ease tensions in global financial markets caused by the debt crisis in the euro zone.

Preventing a recurrence of the banking crisis is also high on the agenda. Financial chiefs appear likely to debate whether to introduce a global tax on banks and force the financial institutions to bear the costs of future bailouts. However, positions among major economies are clearly divided.

The meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs in Busan is expected to lay the ground for discussions at the summit of leaders from the G20 economies later this month in Toronto.