MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

G 8 recommends optimism.

Meeting for the first time since the end of the Iraq war, the Finance Ministers of the seven richest industrialized countries, plus Russia, the G 8, expressed their confidence in the world's economy recovery and recommended long term reforms both for rich and poor nations. The meeting took place in Deauville, north of France in preparation for the G 7 summit scheduled in two weeks time in Evian.

However in the official release of the meeting no mention was made of the recession risk threatening Japan and Germany; deflation in United States and the weakening of the US dollar vis-à-vis the Euro and the Japanese yen.

French Finance Minister and host Francis Mer only mentioned that the G 7 agreed to monitor closely money exchange markets and try to act jointly in the event of any imbalance in the markets.

The release actually describes a list of reforms that are considered necessary for the development of the private sector that should help with the overall recovery, and stresses that with the end of the Iraq war consumers and investors confidence will rapidly improve.

"The threats to global growth are diminishing", state the G 7 members, US, Germany, Japan, Canada, Britain, Italy and France.

"The indicators in red only represent the past, and besides you can't drive a car looking into the rear mirror", said Mr. Mer expressing the overall impression that inflation is no longer a problem and that this opens the way for interest rate cuts particularly by the European Central Bank.

"Growth in the leading economies should be much better. We need to do more to ensure a strong sustainable recovery", underlined US Secretary of the Treasury John Snow. United States is currently benefiting from the lowest interest rates in half a century.

Among the promised reforms United States anticipated the creation of jobs by stimulating savings and investments in the private sector and cities. Europeans will address labor and capital market reforms to as to make their economies more flexible. Japan will reform the financial system and fight deflation.

The G 7 will also request the Club of Paris to show more flexibility with indebted countries, which should benefit Iraq.

Another point in the agenda was the acceptance by all country members of international accounting rules to ensure corporation transparency and avoid scandals such as Enron and Worldcom.