Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown speaks at a news conference following the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' meeting. Brown announced that finance ministers are willing to write off the debts of the world's poorest countries. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from the G7 nations stand together in Lancaster House in London during the second day of the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' meeting, February 5, 2005. (Front row L-R: Germany's Finance Minister Hans Eichel, Luxembourg's Finance Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, France's Finance Minister Herve Gaymard, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, Canada's Finance Minister Ralph Goodale, Japan's Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, Italy's Finance Minister Domenico Siniscalco. Centre row L-R: U.S. Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs John Taylor, Germany's Central Bank Governor Axel Weber, Britain's Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King, Japan's Central Bank Governor Toshihiko Fukui, Governor of the Bank of Italy Antonio Fazio. Back row L-R: Managing Director of the IMF Rodrigo de Rato, Governor of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet, U.S. Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan, Governor of the Bank of France Christian Noyer, President of the World Bank Jim Wolfensohn, Governor of the Bank of Canada David Dodge. (Photo: Yahoo/Reuters)

    At the end of the G7 finance ministers meeting in London, Brownsaid that the G7 club - the UK, US, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada - agreed to offer, on a case by case basis, up to 100% relief on the debts owed by the poorest countries to multinationalinstitutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and African Development Bank.

    Brown, who chaired the meeting, told a press conference after the meeting that discussions would continue on what financing mechanisms should be used to increase development assistance and the IMF would work on proposals to help the debt relief effort.

    Britain has made tackling poverty in Africa and the developing world a priority for its presidency of the G8 - the Group of Sevenplus Russia, which it said is crucial to meet the goals set by theUnited Nation's 2000 Millennium Summit to tackle by 2015 the poverty, hunger and disease affecting billions of people.

    Describing the G7 meeting as "successful", Brown said the participants have also agreed plans for countries hit hard by the December 26, 2004 killer tsunami and for the third world debt relief.

    "London 2005 will in my view be seen as the 100% debt relief summit. It is the richest countries hearing the voices of the poor.It is the first time that as much as 100% debt relief has ever been detailed in a G7 communique," he said.

    During the meeting, Brown said, finance ministers and central bankers from G7 countries also called for more balanced global growth in which, he said, each continent must play part.

    "The United States has committed to fiscal consolidation, Europe and Japan to further structural reform," the G7 said in a statement issued at the end of the two-day meeting.

    "We call on international institutions to work with oil producing countries to ensure a climate conducive to investment. We recognized the importance of raising medium-term energy supply,of energy efficiency, and of the importance of technology and innovation in ensuring energy security," the statement added. Enditem ¡¡