Although the two-day meeting took place amid signs of an economic upturn, EU foreign ministers said the crisis is not yet over and they will continue to carry out stimulus measures until there is a firm recovery.

"We remain cautious about the outlook for growth and jobs," read a joint statement. "We will continue to implement decisively our necessary financial support measures and expansionary monetary and fiscal policies…until recovery is secured."

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that while global economic growth was "underway", there remained "significant challenges" ahead.

The G-20 finance ministers' meeting also addressed the controversial subject of bankers' bonuses, with Germany and France proposing pay caps. They believe excessive bonuses helped propel the financial crisis by encouraging bankers to take too much risk, in the hope of achieving huge short-term profits. However, an agreement on bonus caps failed to materialize, with Britain and the US remaining strongly opposed.

Instead of limiting the size of bonuses, the G-20 ministers agreed to take steps to reward long-term success, though the details of the plan remain unclear.

Publicly, the G-20 foreign ministers presented an image of solidarity, but behind the scenes, sources said that many were frustrated that more wasn't done about excessive pay packages for bankers, especially those whose firms were helped substantially by taxpayer money. The G-20 finance ministers also pledged to clamp down on tax havens.

And, with India, China, Russia and Brazil in attendance, the G-20 meeting in London reiterated a call to overhaul the voting rights of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to reflect the growing economic might of emerging economies.

The two-day meeting was a precursor to the larger G-20 summit in the US city of Pittsburgh at the end of September, which is expected to result in a more detailed plan to overhaul the global financial system.

vj/AFP/Reuters/dpa

Editor: Rick Demarest