Finance ministers from the world's largest economies today conveyed their determination to pursue policies that will prevent a slide into another global recession but at the same time expressed frustration that not all nations were pursuing the correct approaches.
Speaking to the policy-setting panel of the 188-nation International Monetary Fund, British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne took note of the recent downgrades to global growth forecasts and said there was a need "for further progress by policymakers to deliver a strong and sustainable global recovery."
Brazil's Finance Minister, Guido Mantega, told the IMF group that the global recovery "continues to create a sense of disillusionment," and he said the IMF had demonstrated "an entrenched propensity to overstate prospects" for growth in the world's largest economies.
In his remarks, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew pointedly complained that governments in Europe, Japan and China were failing to deliver needed support.
"European leaders should focus on recalibrating policies to address persistent demand weakness," Lew said.
The IMF panel and the steering committee of the World Bank were both scheduled to wrap up their discussions today. Both groups were expected to address the growth slowdown as well as the Ebola crisis in West Africa.
Lew said Japan's outlook was uncertain with growth projected to remain weak this year and next.
He said Japanese officials needed to carefully calibrate budget reductions and "move decisively to implement requisite growth-boosting structural reforms."
Lew said China's economy remained strong but risks had risen and the country needed to put more emphasis on consumption-led growth.
Lew did not mention Germany by name, but it was clear that his remarks on Europe focused on that nation's reluctance to do more to stimulate growth.
"Countries with external surpluses and fiscal flexibility" needed to do more to boost growth, he said.
