US sees global growth but 'challenges' ahead: Geithner

LONDON: US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Saturday after a G20 ministers' meeting that global economic growth was "underway", but warned that "significant challenges" remain ahead.

"Actions (by the G20) have pulled the global economy back from the edge of the abyss," he said in a statement. "The financial system is showing signs of repair. Growth is now underway.

"However, we still face significant challenges ahead. Unemployment is unacceptably high. Conditions for a sustained recovery led by private demand are not yet established,"

Geithner signalled agreement with his G20 counterparts that it is too early to withdraw the fiscal stimuli that governments injected into major economies to prevent meltdown.

"We need to provide sustained support for growth and financial repair until we have in place a strong foundation for recovery," he said.

Ahead of the G20 leaders' summit in the US city of Pittsburgh later this month, Geithner said world leaders need to bring the same urgency to reforming the system as they had previously to tackling the crisis.

"We have made a lot of progress but we have a ways to go," he said. "We can't let momentum for reform fade as the crisis recedes."

Geithner called for "greater urgency" over reform of the financial sector. He came to London touting plans to make banks increase their capital reserves as a buffer against hard times, amid a debate over bankers' bonuses.

"Stronger capital standards are not a substitute for compensation reform," he said. "Compensation reform is a necessary part of buidling a more stable system."