Will it be the last meeting for Group of 10?

Singapore, Sept 20: The Group of 10, a forum for finance officials from industrialised nations to discuss the world economy, may have held its last meeting.

''We decided to scrap the G10 deputies' meeting and we will discuss what to do with the ministerial meetings as well,'' said a senior Japanese official in Singapore for the IMF/World Bank meetings.

''It's just force of habit,'' he said, referring to the G10 gatherings. ''We have been making the same speeches everywhere at similar meetings.'' The Group of 10 brings together 11 rather than 10 countries, Group of Seven members Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from the G10 usually meet once a year to consult on economic, monetary and financial matters.

The group gathered in Singapore over the weekend, but few people paid attention or even knew they had met.

With global economic issues getting more complicated with the rise of emerging economies, critics say groupings comprising only industrial nations are hopelessly outdated.

Even the more powerful G7 has been urged to reshape itself as economic clout has seeped towards emerging powerhouses such as China -- which has leapfrogged Britain to become the world's fourth largest economy -- and India.

Realising that the G7 alone cannot right the wrongs of the world economy, the group has invited guest countries like China, Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa and Middle East countries to its ''outreach'' meetings in recent year.

REUTERS

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