G20 finance ministers to endorse euro rescue deal

Finance ministers and central bankers from the G20 nations are expected to endorse European plans to stem the eurozone debt crisis as they meet in Busan, South Korea this weekend.

They will also discuss the need for common standards across financial markets, including a global bank tax.

Such a levy is supported by the US and Europe, but opposed by some developing nations plus Canada and Australia.

The meeting comes ahead of a summit of G20 leaders in Toronto on 26-27 June.

World markets have been rocked in recent months by concerns over Europe's debt crisis.

The crisis led to the EU approving a 750bn euro ($938bn; £651bn) emergency package to stabilise the troubled euro.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Sakong Il, chairman of the presidential committee for the G20, told reporters that the G20 supported the rescue deal.

"Regarding the current crisis, the G20 is very vigilant on developments and supports the initiatives made by the EU and the IMF to remedy the problem," he said.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also expressed confidence that the global economy was strong enough to ride out Europe's troubles.

"We have a moderate but pretty solid recovery in place," he told CNBC television.

This summit will be the first G20 meeting for the new UK Chancellor, George Osborne.

Earlier on Friday, Mr Osborne said that eurozone countries, especially those in southern Europe, needed to cut their budget deficits to show that they can live within their means.