Top economic officials from around the world are expected to discuss high oil prices, Hurricane Rita and China's latest move to more flexible currency exchange rules at meetings Friday in Washington.
Finance ministers from the wealthy group of seven nations are set to hold talks with peers from major emerging economies, including Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa.
Crude oil prices are sharply higher than they were a year ago and could hurt economic growth in many nations. Those concerns have been heightened by worries that Hurricane Rita could destroy key parts of the U.S. energy industry and push prices up to unprecedented levels.
Meanwhile, China announced slightly more flexible exchange rules. Some of Beijing's trading partners say China's cheap currency gives its goods an unfair price advantage on world markets.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.