The Hindu Business Line : G-8 finance ministers meet to discuss soaring oil prices

OSAKA: Helping developing nations fight global warming and sharing views on towering oil and food prices were among the topics on hand at the G-8 finance ministers' meeting opening on Friday.

The two-day meeting will also address other global worries, including help for Africa and possibly worries about gyrating currency rates, according to Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga, the host of the meeting. Later in the day, Nukaga is expec ted to appear with a US official to outline an initiative for Climate Investment Funds being administered by the World Bank to help developing nations battle global warming, according to the Japanese government.

The G-8 session, bringing together finance ministers from the US, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada, is one of several ministerial meetings leading up to the July 7-9 summit in the northern island of Hokkaido. G-8 finance minist ers are having dinner with their counterparts and other officials from Australia, Brazil, China, South Korea, South Africa and Thailand to weigh the impact of surging oil and food prices on the global economy, the Ministry of Finance said.

Oil spiked to nearly $140 a barrel last week and several Asian countries, including India, Indonesia and Malaysia have cut fuel subsidies, raising retail prices for millions of consumers. The world is also grappling with an emerging food crisis as price s of corn, wheat, rice, soybeans and other agriculture products have been spiraling higher. The food price hikes have set off riots and protests from Africa to Asia and raised fears about a global food crisis that could cause millions more people to suf fer malnutrition. - PTI

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