Financial chiefs expressed cautious optimism on the global economy, pointing to the recent rebound in stock markets and a bout of encouraging economic data. Signs of a bottoming out of the crisis are particularly strong in the United States and China. Officials said, however, that significant risks remain.

The World Bank last week projected the global economy would contract by 3 percent this year, significantly worse than earlier estimates. Many nations in Europe are mired in deeper recessions than the one in the United States and have moved more slowly to clean up their financial systems. Europe has yet to put many of its banks through the kind of "stress test" the United States conducted, and analysts are concerned about another wave of bank failures in Europe, which could hinder a global economic recovery.

Yet, economic signs of life were sufficient for the financial chiefs yesterday to focus on how to wind down massive fiscal and monetary actions worldwide, and to ask the International Monetary Fund to help come up with a plan. Germany, in particular, sounded an alarm over the run-up in already-high deficits from Japan to Britain to the United States, as well as the easy monetary policies of low interest rates and tax cuts seen in some nations.

Although the officials agreed on both the need to continue government spending sprees as warranted, as well as the need to ramp them down as economies improve, there was an important difference of emphasis. The United States and Britain, for instance, appeared to play up calls for "sustained" spending to ensure a recovery, while Germany and other countries highlighted the need to return to fiscal prudence as fast as possible.

"It is interesting that France and Germany, which face prospects of very weak recoveries, continue to be most vocal in cautioning against the risks of stimulus measures," said Eswar Prasad, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "

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