World leaders back Greece combating financial turmoil
A summit of the G8 leading industrialized nations came down solidly in favor of a push to balance European austerity
World leaders backed keeping Greece in the euro zone on Saturday and vowed to take all steps necessary to combat financial turmoil while revitalizing a global economy increasingly threatened by Europe's debt crisis.
A summit of the G8 leading industrialized nations came down solidly in favor of a push to balance European austerity - an approach long driven by German Chancellor Angela Merkel - with a new dose of U.s.-style stimulus seen as vital to healing ailing euro-zone economies. But it was clear that divisions remained.
“We commit to take all necessary steps to strengthen and reinvigorate our economies and combat financial stresses, recognizing that the right measures are not the same for each of us,” the leaders said in a joint statement issued at their meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.
The overarching message from the summit hosted by President Barack Obama reflected his own concerns that the euro-zone contagion, which threatens the future of .Europe's 17-country single currency bloc, could hurt the fragile U.S. recovery and his re-election chances in Novem- ber
With Greece's political and economic upheaval high on the summit's agenda and stok- ing concerns over instability in Spain and Italy, Group of Eight leaders sought to calm the situation.
In the first line of their final economic communique, they essentially endorsed calls to broaden Europe's focus be- yond German-backed belttightening, calling it “our imperative” to promote growth.
Anxious to quell investor fears, the G8 said: “We reaffirm our interest in Greece remaining in the euro zone while respecting its commitments.” But leaders offered no specific prescription for extracting Athens from its worsening crisis.
(Reuters)