G20 communique to avoid specifics on stimulus

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HORSHAM, England (Reuters): G20 financial policymakers will mention fiscal stimulus in their communique without setting specific demands, a G20 source said Saturday, denying there had been a clash over the issue.

The G20 delegation member, who declined to be identified, said there was no clash over the necessity of new government spending between U.S. and European delegations at their meeting, which is preparing the ground for a broader summit on April 2.

"There was nothing like that," the source said. "It was an issue, sure, but not in the controversial way it was mentioned in the media before. The issue will be mentioned in the communique, no question, but in a general way. You should not expect any big numbers or any concrete demands."

Two financial policy sources also said that they expected a shorter communique laying out a broad framework that would leave specifics for the broader summit of country leaders.

Another report adds: G20 finance ministers were expected Saturday to paper over differences on how to tackle the economic crisis and instead reassure countries pushed to the brink that they can count on help.

The ministers were meeting near London to prepare for a leaders' summit on April 2 but prospects for tangible progress this weekend were limited by splits on what emphasis to place on government spending and regulation.

Nor was there any more clarity from the United States on how it plans to clean up banks' toxic assets, which many say is essential to get the world economy moving again.

That shifted the primary focus to securing pledges that the International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank and other agencies have the financial firepower to come to the rescue of coun tries in difficulty.