G20 officials pledge 5-year, $2 trillion effort on growth

BUSINESS

G20 officials pledge 5-year, $2 trillion effort on growth

The Associated Press Published Friday, October 10, 2014 4:13PM EDT

G-20 chaired by Australia Treasurer Joe Hockey

Finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Twenty nations gather for photo at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington, Friday, Oct. 10, 2014. The G-20 is chaired by Australia's Treasurer Joe Hockey, seated at center. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

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WASHINGTON -- Finance ministers from the world's largest economies say they are determined to prevent a slide into another global recession.

They are unveiling plans for a global initiative to build roads and other infrastructure projects to help boost world growth by $2 trillion over the next five years and create millions of jobs.

Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey says that the plan involves more than 900 individual projects with the potential to lift growth by 1.8 per cent over the next five years. He says all the details will be revealed at a November summit.

The finance officials also grappled with more immediate threats of growth slowdowns in Europe, Latin America and China that roiled financial markets this week with concerns the economic recovery could be in danger of faltering.