THE Group of 20 labored yesterday to agree how to put the world economy on a sounder footing as world leaders arrived in Seoul sharply divided over currency and trade policies.

The G20 summit, held for the first time in Asia, has become the centerpiece of international efforts to revive the global economy and prevent future financial meltdowns.

Hopes had been high that the Group of 20 - encompassing rich nations such as Germany and the United States, as well as growing giants such as China and Brazil - could be the world forum for thrashing out an economic way forward from financialcrisis.

But agreement appeared elusive as the two-day summit began, divided between those such as US that want to get China to allow its currency to rise and those irate over US Federal Reserve plans to pump US$600 billion of new money into the sluggish American economy, effectively devaluing the dollar.

US President Barack Obama told fellow leaders that America cannot remain a profligate consumer using borrowed money and needs other countries to pull their weight to fix the world economy.

"The most important thing that the United States can do for the world economy is to grow, because we continue to be the world's largest market and a huge engine for all other countries to grow," Obama said at a news conference.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva warned that such policies would "bankrupt" the world.

"If the rich countries are not consuming and want to grow their economy on exports, the world goes bankrupt because there would be no one to buy," he said. "Everybody would like to sell."

Concerns about trade gaps, protectionism and a currency war threatened to overtake momentum for forming global solutions to the financialcrisis. So far, officials can't even agree on the agenda, much less a draft statement. Government ministers and senior G20 officials have labored for days without success to come up with a substantive joint statement to be issued today.

Leaders had a working dinner yesterday at Seoul's grand National Museum of Korea. Outside, a few thousand protesters rallied against the G20. Some scuffled with riot police, but the march was largely peaceful.

But South Korean President Lee Myung-bak failure to announce that he and Obama had agreed on a long-stalled free trade accord as expected did not bode well for the mood for compromise.

Obama made a pitch for balanced recovery across the globe and pushed for exchange rates based on the market. The currency spat intensified after the US Federal Reserve announced plans to purchase $600 billion in long-term government bonds to try to boost the US economy.

Analysts say it could spark an influx of cash into the financial markets of emerging nations, creating instability.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• sharply [´ʃɑ:pli] ad.锋利地；剧烈地 (初中英语单词)
• international [,intə´næʃənəl] a.国际的，世界的 (初中英语单词)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
• agreement [ə´gri:mənt] n.同意；一致；协议 (初中英语单词)
• federal [´fedərəl] a.联邦的，联邦制的 (初中英语单词)
• conference [´kɔnfərəns] n.讨论(会)；会谈 (初中英语单词)
• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
• peaceful [´pi:sfəl] a.和平的；平静的 (初中英语单词)
• failure [´feiljə] n.失败；衰竭；破产 (初中英语单词)
• accord [ə´kɔ:d] n.&vi.符合 vt.给与 (初中英语单词)
• currency [´kʌrənsi] n.通货；通用；货币 (高中英语单词)
• summit [´sʌmit] n.顶(点)；绝顶 (高中英语单词)
• revive [ri´vaiv] v.(使)苏醒；(使)振奋 (高中英语单词)
• brazil [brə´zil] n.巴西 (高中英语单词)
• crisis [´kraisis] n.转折点；危机 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• consumer [kən´sju:mə] n.消费者；用户 (高中英语单词)
• overtake [,əuvə´teik] vt.追上；赶上 (高中英语单词)
• senior [´si:niə] a.年长的 n.前辈 (高中英语单词)
• compromise [´kɔmprəmaiz] n.妥协，和解 (高中英语单词)
• recovery [ri´kʌvəri] n.重获；获得；恢复 (高中英语单词)
• brazilian [brə´ziljən] a.&n.巴西(人)(的) (英语四级单词)
• bankrupt [´bæŋkrʌpt] n.破产者 a.破产了的 (英语四级单词)
• footing [´futiŋ] n.立脚点；基础；地位 (英语六级单词)
• sluggish [´slʌgiʃ] a.呆滞的；偷懒的 (英语六级单词)
• effectively [i´fektivli] ad.有效地 (英语六级单词)