G7 officials stress unity on global economy

IQALUIT,Canada: Top international finance officials renewed their commitments to keep spending to support a global rebound while playing down differences over new US approaches on bank reform.

Finance ministers and central bank presidents of the Group of Seven major industrial economies normally seek to strike a united front at their meetings to avoid upsetting financial markets. But that imperative seemed even more urgent at their two days of talks Friday and Saturday given the bad week experienced by global markets, which were thrown into a tailspin by new worries over rising debt levels in Greece, Portugal and Spain.

The G7 officials struck a united front at their closing news conference, announcing an agreement to push the international lending agencies to grant new debt relief for earthquake-ravaged Haiti and expressing broad consensus on the need to continue spending to support a tentative economic rebound.