Geithner faces tough debut at G-7 meeting in Rome

ROME -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner makes a tough international debut Friday as the Group of Seven finance ministers meeting gets underway with the global economy tanking and governments searching for ways to ease the slump.

Officials from the leading industrial nations will discuss new financial market rules, concerns about protectionist measures, and the effect of the crisis on poorer countries. But a major breakthrough would be a surprise, as the meeting comes ahead of a broader, 20-country summit in April.

"I don't think I have heard anything imaginative to get the problem resolved. I think they are using worn out prescriptions from a different time," says Peter Morici, a University of Maryland business professor. "I expected there would be more progress on bank reform. But the basic problem is the global trading system is broken, and that is even more fundamental to the banks."

As the finance ministers reached Rome, the echo of the global slowdown could be felt on the streets of the Italian capital, where tens of thousands of workers and laid-off employees staged demonstrations against the government's handling of the crisis.

Geithner arrived Friday morning with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and was spending the day in meetings with his counterparts from Britain, Canada, Italy, Germany and Japan — saving a one-on-one with the French finance minister for her visit to Washington next week.

Geithner was also holding discussions Friday with Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, who is joining the meeting.

The group was to come together for a dinner Friday night before a day-long meeting Saturday.

Geithner will update finance ministers on the Obama administration's efforts to deal with the USA's financial crisis and recession, and hear what their countries are doing to address the downturn.

The absence of rising global economic stars China and India, among others, has created a growing consensus that the G-7 isn't the right forum to tackle some of the tough questions facing the world. Those countries will be at the G-20 summit in April bringing together industrial and developing nations to advance efforts to cope with the economic crisis and prevent a reccurence.