France wants emerging market nations to join G-7

SAO PAULO: Big emerging nations should be allowed to join the powerful Group of Seven forum that has a large say in global economic policy, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said on Monday.

Christine Lagarde told French and Brazilian business executives that the G-7 would have little clout in the future unless the planet's big developing economies are allowed in.

``The G7 won't mean anything unless it quickly changes into a G-13 or G-14,'' Lagarde said at a Brazil-France trade forum in Sao Paulo.

Brazil should be among the countries invited to join the G-7, Lagarde said, but she declined comment when reporters asked which other nations should receive invitations, saying that would be up to French President Nicolas Sarkozy to announce.

Brazil, Russia, China and India are the world's leading emerging market economies, and Russia is already a member of the Group of Eight, the G7 plus Russia.

Lagarde's comments come ahead of a summit in Washington on Saturday for leaders from rich and developing nation on the international financial crisis. She participated over the weekend in a meeting of finance ministers and central bank presidents from the G-20 group of rich and developing countries.

Brazil is lobbying for the G-20 to be the group that revamps the global financial system. If that group is not selected, Brazil contends that the G-7 must be expanded.

Lagarde told Brazil's Valor Economico business newspaper that it will be up to the heads of state at the Washington summit to determine which group of nations takes the lead in revamping the global financial system to prevent another economic meltdown from happening.