（゜Д゜;）英字新聞

Rocky path lies ahead to economic recovery
Is the pace of the global economic downturn really slowing?
"Economic activity should begin to recover later this year," finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven industrial powers said in a joint communique issued after their meeting held Friday in Washington.
This was the first time for G-7 finance chiefs to predict when the global economy will recover since the financial crisis pushed the world into recession last autumn. They apparently found hope in recent data suggesting that the pace of the economic decline has been slowing somewhat.
But the finance chiefs from Japan, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United States also said in the joint statement that the global economy is still filled with "downside risks," warning against overoptimism. All countries need to maintain policy coordination and continue striving to restore economic growth by the end of this year.
Leaders of the Group of 20 economies who met earlier this month in London pledged to take economic measures amounting to a total of 5 trillion dollars (500 trillion yen) with the aim of bringing the world economy back to 2 percent growth by the end of 2010.
Along with this agreement of their leaders, G-7 finance chiefs also confirmed that their governments would continue to take every step possible, including measures to increase public spending and stabilize the global financial system.
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U.S. banks undercapitalized
Japan has already decided additional economic measures that involve a total of 15 trillion yen in actual fiscal spending to boost its gross domestic product in fiscal 2009. European countries remain cautious about additional public spending programs, but the G-20 countries, in particular China and India, must work together to realize the agreement.
But we are concerned that the future of the global economy is still uncertain. There are no clear signs indicating when the economic crisis will end and the world economy will bottom out.
The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday that the world economy likely will contract 1.3 percent this year, drastically revising downward its earlier forecast for global growth. It also warned that financial institutions around the world will suffer a total of more than 4 trillion dollars in losses in 2009.
The turnaround of the economy in the United States--the epicenter of the latest economic crisis--is particularly slow, impeding the global recovery.
Major banks in the United States reported strong earnings in the January-March quarter, but their bad debts seem to be increasing. The launch of the bad-bank rescue program that will buy up banks' toxic assets with public and private funds has been delayed, too.
The G-7 statement urged the U.S. government to provide undercapitalized banks with public money and help banks accelerate the disposal of their bad assets. Washington needs to act quickly to break the cycle of the financial crisis and the consequent economic downturn.
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G-7's significance at stake
G-7 finance chiefs also reconfirmed the necessity of tightening the regulation of financial institutions and money markets, which was agreed at the G-20 meeting, but they put off discussing its details. Tighter and more effective regulations need to be set as soon as possible.
The significance of the G-20 countries, which include the G-7 and emerging economies is increasing. Global attention is now focused on how the G-7 industrialized countries can retain their economic clout, given their dwindling influence. The G-7 will see its influence continue to wane if the major economies fail to make visible achievements in overcoming the economic crisis and reviving the global economy.