CRI听力：Meeting of G20 Finance Ministers Reaches Conclusion

Finance officials from rich and developing countries have pledged to boost the role of the International Monetary Fund and make a "sustained effort" to restore global growth.

The key priority must be restoring frozen bank lending through cash infusions and dealing with the shaky assets souring bank's balance sheets.(www.hXen.com)

The consensus was reached in a statement at the end of talks in southern England attended by finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 countries. Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren was among them.

"Efforts should be made to speed up the pace of reforming the governance of the international financial institutions, such as IMF. It is also important to improve international financial supervision and cooperation, and to establish an effective relief system which should give special attention to underdeveloped countries."

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling believed that the major step forward is that countries should unite behind action to battle the global financial crisis.

"The important step forward I think was now countries would of course have to make their own assessment what they need to do in their own countries. But there is this commitment which is absolutely critical in term of the message sending out that countries of the 20 largest economies in the world stand ready to do whatever is necessary for as long as it is necessary."

However, differences remain on how to bring the recovery. As U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner defended US plans to lift the U.S. economy - and pay off the massive public debt it is accumulating with stimulus spending programmes; Peer Steinbrueck, the German Finance Minister, said it was important to restore confidence in the markets before pumping money into the system.

"Because we are convinced. It makes no sense to pump more and more money in our economy whenever we haven't restored the confidence on the financial markets."