G20 moves to calm currency war fears "The mood quite clearly early on was that we needed desperately to avoid protectionist measures ... that mood permeated quite quickly," said Jim Flaherty, Canadian finance minister Jim Flaherty, adding that the wording of the G20 statement had been hardened up by the ministers. As a result, it reflected a substantial, but not complete, endorsement of Tuesday's proclamation by the G7 nations - the United States, Japan, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy. As with the G7 intervention, Tokyo said it gave it a green light to pursue its policies unchecked. "I have explained that [Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe's administration is doing its utmost to escape from deflation and we have gained a certain understanding," Taro Aso, Japanese finance minister, told reporters. We're confident that if Japan revives its own economy that would certainly affect the world economy as well. We gained understanding on this point. Mr Flaherty admitted it would be difficult to gauge if domestic policies were aimed at weakening currencies or not. Source:Reuters