G-7 Officials Express Optimism

Top finance officials from the world’s seven richest industrial countries expressed optimism Sunday that the world economy will rebound following unexpected sluggishness last year in the United States and Europe.

Officials from the seven countries - the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Canada and Italy - did not unveil any new policy formulas to achieve the pickup in growth, saying they were confident policies already in place would lead to stronger activity as the year progresses.