Gathering for the first time since U.S. President Barack Obama took office in January, finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Seven industrialized economies meeting in Rome Friday are expected to focus on the new administration's proposals for dealing with the global financial crisis.
But expectations are low among economists that any effective measures will emerge to reverse the worldwide economic slump.
"It is not a problem that the G7 alone can do something about and immediately resolve," said Hiroshi Hanada, economist at Osaka-based Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co.