A G20 pledge on stability

G20 Financial leaders in Paris ended their meetings promising to take action to maintain stability and restore confidence in financial markets which have been battered by fears that Europe's debt crisis could tip the world back into recession.
The make or break moment in the two-year-old crisis that has spread far beyond the starting point of Greece could come at an EU summit later this month.
French Finance Minister Francois Baroin
SOUNDBITE: French Finance Minister Francois Baroin, saying: (French):
"To fully respond to the global crisis, I have to say that the 23rd of October European summit results will be decisive -- everyone knows that and understands the importance -- as will be the American capability to specify its budgetary commitments and the Chinese commitments to rebalance the engines of its growth."
He spoke as the world's leading economies kept pressure firmly on Europe to sort out its debt crisis.
The draft communiqué of the meeting said the G20 would maximize the impact of the bailout fund in order to address contagion.
The United States is among countries keen to keep pressure on the Europeans to act more decisively.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
SOUNDBITE: U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, saying: (English):
"But I can say that based on my extensive discussions with them over the last 6 weeks or so, and of course looking at what they are saying in public too, I am encouraged by the direction, by the speed at which they are moving now and by the shape of this emerging strategy, but I, as you know, it is all in the details and it is very hard to judge what impact something will have until you see its basic shape but I want to repeat what I said in my statement: if you look at the history of Europe and this great endeavor of European integration over the last several decades, when France and Germany agree and when they commit they are capable of doing extraordinary things."
The G20 meeting comes as protests have been held across Europe in solidarity with the Occupy wall Street movement that started in New York -- that is calling for greater financial equity.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters