Spurring growth center stage as G-20 finance chiefs meet in Istanbul

Finance ministers and central bankers face a tough task coordinating action to spur global growth at G-20 meetings this week, with major economies running at different speeds and monetary policies diverging.

Concern over the ability of the United States to sustain the global economy as most of the world slows will be high on the agenda as the Group of 20 leading economies hold talks in Istanbul today and tomorrow.

The meetings come as Greece casts a new shadow over Europe, cheap oil plays havoc with inflation and growth forecasts and a strengthening dollar threatens emerging economies.

"There is a lot at stake," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a blog post on Feb. 6. "Without action, we could see the global economic supertanker continuing to be stuck in the shallow waters of sub-par growth and meagre job creation."

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan told an Institute of International Finance (IIF) meeting yesterday that tackling sluggish global growth and giving low income nations more voice will be among the priorities for Turkey's G-20 presidency.

The former will be easier said than done.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said last week the United States could not be "the sole engine of growth" and a senior U.S. official said Washington's message going into the meetings would again be that Europe is not doing enough.

World financial leaders agreed last year to launch new measures to raise their collective gross domestic product growth over the next five years and create millions of new jobs.

The pledge, called the Brisbane Action Plan, entails about 1,000 commitments. European officials said leaders in Istanbul were likely to agree to focus down to just 5-10 priorities...