Gulf Times - Oil, trade, aid give G8 headache for upcoming London meeting

Gulf Times Oil, trade, aid give G8 headache for London meeting

Oil is too dear, China is flooding the world with cheap clothes, Europe is smarting from rejection of a draft EU constitution, the US is living beyond its means and Japan’s economy still looks stuck in the mud. Tensions are all too evident over fair trade, Chinese currency controls and who does their bit for global prosperity, but the G8 club of leading industrialised nations, whose finance ministers meet on Friday, looks short of consensual solutions. Currency matters have long been the main area of activity of the G7 group and there is at least one less headache this time as far as three of the four European G7 members are concerned because the euro’s rise against the dollar has abated. That eases the pressure on European exporters.