Britain warns against 'economic warfare' on forex at G-20

MOSCOW (AFP) - British Finance Minister George Osborne on Saturday warned against "economic warfare" as the G-20 states of top world economies met, hoping to allay fears they could devalue national currencies to boost economic activity.

G-20 finance ministers at their meeting in Russia are later expected to adopt a statement in their communique broadly similar to that issued by the G-7 leading developed economies emphasising that markets alone should set currency exchange rates.

The worries had been set off by the policy of monetary easing to boost inflation and activity by reducing the value of the yen planned by the Japanese authorities under new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"There was a very clear G-7 statement this week," Mr Osborne told reporters in Moscow. "You will see later today that the G-20 will echo what the G-7 has said."