TORONTO - Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says he will meet with other finance ministers of the G-7 industrial countries this week to co-ordinate efforts to deal with the global economic crisis.
Flaherty says he will meet Friday with his G-7 counterparts in Washington, D.C. to discuss various measures to strengthen the international financial system.
Economies around the world have been battered by a banking crisis, a battered housing market and a credit crunch that has dried up borrowing.
Earlier Wednesday, the Bank of Canada and the world's central banks cut interest rates by half a percentage point to stimulate bank lending and economic growth.
Flaherty says an International Monetary Fund report today shows Canada will lead the G-7 in economic growth in 2009, with growth of 1.2 per cent, though overall global growth will slow down.
Meanwhile, the U.S. will grow only 0.1 per cent next year and Europe 0.2 per cent.
The finance minister says Canada is in a strong position to deal with the global crisis, with a strong banking system, a stable housing market and a federal budget surplus.
