G-10 FINANCE OFFICIALS DISCUSS DEBT, CURRENCIES

  Deputy Finance Ministers from the Group
  of 10 leading western industrialised countries met here to
  discuss the world debt crisis, trade imbalances and currency
  stability today following last month's Paris monetary accord,
  sources close to the talks said.
      The officials met at the offices of the International
  Monetary Fund (IMF) to discuss broad aspects of world monetary
  policy in preparation for the IMF's interim committee meeting
  in Washington in April.
      The talks were the first high-level international review of
  the monetary situation since the accord last month reached by
  the U.S., West Germany, France, Britain, Japan and Canada to
  stabilise world currency markets at around present levels
  following the 40 pct slide in the dollar since mid-1985.
      Other countries represented at today's talks were Italy,
  which refused to attend last month's meeting on the grounds
  that it was being excluded from the real discussions, the
  Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland.
      Many of the officials had met earlier today and yesterday
  within the framework of the Organisation for Economic
  Cooperation and Development (OECD) to review the slow progress
  being made in cutting the record 170 billion dlr U.S. Trade
  deficit and persuading West Germany and Japan to open their
  economies to more foreign imports.
  

