Rich countries have taken a step towards an attempt to rescue their economies. Group of 8 finance ministers met at Lecce, Italy during weekend. They described their economies positively since the debacle of Lehman Brothers last year. The Lehman Brothers’ collapse brought in the world’s worst economic crisis since Great Depression of the 1930s. 

The ministers said that there are signs of their economies getting stabilised, a recovery of stocks, improved business confidence. But, there are significant risks to the economic recovery. A Chinese economist said that China may not see a rapid re-bound, while a South-Korean minister said that the pace of economic slide had slowed. A leading business group from Britain said that the country would see an earlier recovery than previously forecast. But a sustained recovery was not guaranteed.

There has been a fear that drastic stimulus packages would fuel inflation. Germany and Canada voted for the winding down of the stimulus as it was not needed any longer. The minsters in Lecce had a disagreement over how the world could roll back state spending plans and hiking interest rates. The nations have asked the IMF to help in analysing ways of ending economic stimulus policies. 

The communiqué said there would not be an end to stimulus packages immediately. Unemployment may continue to rise even if production picks up. Russia asked the world to become less dependent on dollar. Yuan and Rouble could be the reserve currencies in future.