DPA/IANS

Istanbul, Oct 3: Finance ministers and central bank heads from the world's seven major industrial powers were meeting Saturday, less than two weeks after being relegated to a side role in future global economic talks.

The Group of Seven (G7) nations were coming together on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank's annual meetings in Istanbul.

Officials said the meeting will be an opportunity to follow up on the promises of closer cooperation made by leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) at a Sep 25 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Yet their meeting comes after the G20 declared itself the primary forum for future economic talks, a nod to major emerging economies that are fast becoming drivers of global growth. The G20 includes the G7-countries as well as major developing powers like China, India and Brazil.

US officials have said the G7 will continue to play a future role in coordinating policies among the world's wealthiest nations, who have been regularly meeting as a bloc since the 1970s.

But the G20's new primacy has left the seven countries uncertain of whether they should even put out an official communique after their meeting. G7 officials will, however, brief reporters in the evening.

The ministers are meeting after the IMF declared this week that the world has emerged from recession, but will face a sluggish recovery and more job losses in the coming year.

The G7 will be considering measures to firm up the recovery, as well as ongoing efforts to achieve far-reaching regulatory reforms that would prevent another collapse of their financial sectors in future.

The meeting also comes amid fears that recent declines in the dollar could curb the global recovery by raising export costs for other countries. The US currency has dropped nearly 13 percent against seven major currencies since the start of the year.

Finance officials from the US and Europe have sought to assure markets this week that a "strong dollar" remains in everyone's interest.