G7

FT.com: G7 urges banks to boost capital

The Group of Seven industrialised nations on Friday night endorsed plans to force banks to hold more capital to guard against risks that contributed to the credit crisis, as part of an initiative to strengthen the financial system.

There are a series of quotes on the US and world economy following this article. The quotes are telling.

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson - ”I am confident in the long-term economic prospects of the United States, However, the housing correction, together with high energy prices and financial market turmoil, are weighing on US economic growth. Given the significant short-term downside risks, we are taking action.”

French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde - ”We are coming out of this G7 meeting with concrete proposals, we really co-operated well in that regard and are determined to stay together and we have a special calendar which indicates that within a 100 days we will do certain things and within 300 days we will do certain things.”

It will be interesting to see how this meeting will affect the trajectory of the stock market when it opens on Monday.