Timothy Geithner (left) and British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling. Photo / AP Expand

Timothy Geithner (left) and British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling. Photo / AP

ST ANDREWS - Finance officials from rich and developing countries have pledged to maintain emergency support for their economies until recovery is assured, but failed to reach a clear agreement to bear the cost of fighting climate change.

There was also a mixed reaction among the Group of 20 (G-20) leading rich and emerging nations at the weekend to a British-led push to consider a fund for bank bailouts, possibly financed by a tax on financial transactions, to ensure that taxpayers do not bear the brunt of any future rescues.

The grouping - representing around 90 per cent of the world's wealth, 80 per cent of world trade and two-thirds of the world's population - announced after talks in St Andrews, Scotland, that economic recovery was "uneven and remains dependent on policy support".

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said US jobs figures out on Saturday showing unemployment at a 26-year high of 10.2 per cent "reinforced that this is still a very tough economic environment".

While the "process of growth is now beginning", that fledgling growth still needed to be reinforced to create jobs and get businesses investing to underpin the recovery in the housing market and elsewhere, Geithner said.

"If we put the brakes on too quickly, we will weaken the economy and the financial system, unemployment will rise, more businesses will fail, budget deficits will rise, and the ultimate cost of the crisis will be greater," he said.

"It is too early to start to lean against recovery."

The statement smoothed over divisions among G20 nations about whether it was time to start talking about exit strategies to unwind recent massive stimulus measures. Germany, France and Russia have called for a joint plan on when countries should start repaying debt, and the European Central Bank has indicated it will soon start withdrawing some of its emergency lending to banks.

On climate change, the G20 officials also said they wanted "an ambitious outcome" at a major UN conference in Copenhagen next month - but did not commit themselves to a funding package to help poorer nations adapt to a warming climate.

European nations have promoted a global climate fund of some €100 billion a year ($205 billion at the current exchange rate) by 2020 - combining government and private finance - as an incentive for poor developing nations to agree to tight curbs on greenhouse gas emissions.

Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, said no deal on financing would mean that "we will end up with a very difficult situation in Copenhagen".