The specter of a damaging global currency war hung over a meeting of economic powers in Washington Friday, with slim hopes for a quick deal that could give world recovery a shot in the arm. Finance ministers and central bankers from the G20 met in Washington hoping to ease a fierce debate between the rich and developing world over beggar-thy- neighbor trade policies. With the recovery still painfully slow in the United States, Japan and Europe, pressure is growing on China and other emerging markets to allow a more level- playing field for trade. Rapidly-growing China is accused of keeping its yuan artificially low to boost exports at the expense of rivals and is being urged to focus more on domestic demand. At the opening of an IMF meeting here US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner insisted more must be done to rebalance world growth. 'The United States believes that global rebalancing is not progressing as well as needed to avoid threats to the global economic recovery,' he told the IMF's 186 other member states, according to a statement. Geithner added that the solidarity shown in the wake of the global financial crisis was at risk of disappearing as countries like China fail to switch the foundation of their economies from foreign to domestic demand. 'Our initial achievements are at risk of being undermined by the limited extent of progress toward more domestic demand-led growth in countries running external surpluses and by the extent of foreign exchange intervention as countries with undervalued currencies lean against appreciation.' While the US Congress has moved to slap retaliatory sanctions on Chinese goods, Washington has ratcheted up the pressure by hinting that China may not be allowed a bigger say at the IMF unless the currency issue is resolved. IMF members are expected to discuss how to reform decision-making at the fund, to give more say to emerging and developing economies. Europe, seen as a major loser from the reshuffle, has been reluctant to reduce its voting share or representation on the IMF's decision-making board. Of the 24 seats on the IMF's board, Europe currently holds nine and said it was willing to rotate two of those spots with emerging markets. On the eve of the meeting IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the United States was 'right' to link IMF reform to China's currency policies. 'I think it is right to insist on the fact that the more an emerging country will have a voice and representation in the fund, the more they have a responsibility in the stability of the system. 'You can be at the center of the system, or you can be at the border of the system. But if you want to be at the center of the system... it goes with having more responsibility.' China has rebuffed pressure to lift the value of the yuan, fearing it would put Chinese businesses at risk. Meanwhile European officials said a rapidly rising euro, victimized by an undervalued US dollar and Chinese yuan, could threaten eurozone recovery and vowed to press both Washington and Beijing to take action. 'The euro appears to be too strong today,' said the chairman of eurozone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Junker. 'We are not happy with the current real exchange rate of the Chinese currency.' But reaching a consensus appears to be an uphill struggle. Youssef Boutros-Ghali, who heads the International Monetary Fund's steering committee, said a quick agreement on currency exchange rates was unlikely. When asked if action before next month's G20 summit in Seoul was feasible, Boutros-Ghali said 'this late in the game, no. But in the coming three to six months, yes absolutely.' Some are pressing for quicker action. The IMF has warned that rich and emerging economies must dramatically change the way they trade with each other or risk throttling the recovery. In its latest economic outlook, the IMF said growth would slow more than previously expected in 2011, as the United States, Europe and Japan continue to struggle and China remains overly dependent on exports. 