"Further declines in housing prices in the the United States and greater strains in the financial markets may adversely affect the global outlook. Elevated commodity prices, especially of oil and food, pose a serious challenge to stable growth worldwide, have serious implications for the most vulnerable, and may increase global inflationary pressure, said the statement.

"These conditions make our policy choices more complicated," it continued. "We will remain vigilant, and will continue to take appropriate actions, individually and collectively, in order to secure stability and growth in our economies and globally."

The G8 suggested that more needed to be done to improve the diversity of energy sources and the development of more efficient forms of production and use, along with the "full implementation of the St. Petersburg Energy Security Action Plan."

In addition, the G8 called on oil-producing countries to increase output and on all countries to improve refinery capacity. The G8 also suggested that oil markets could become more efficient by improving transparency and market data, calling on the IMF and IEA to continue working together to analyze incoming data.

The G8 also expressed concern that low-income and food-importing countries had been hit hard by the recent rise in food prices, adding that demand was likely to remain elevated. "The international community should respond with an integrated approach that addresses the immediate effects of the crisis as well as underlying causes of food insecurity," read the statement, calling on international organizations to continue to support agricultural development projects.

"It is imperative to remove supply-side constraints and export restrictions, replace general food subsidies in developing countries with well-targeted help for the poorest, and improve the efficiency of international agricultural markets, including through the successful conclusion of the Doha Development Round," the statement continued.

The G8 also underlined its commitment on climate change by introducing a Clean Technology and Strategic Climate Fund to "scale up public and private finance for the deployment of clean technologies, the prevention of deforestation and development of climate resilient economies in developing countries, as described in our separate statement on the CIFs."

The statement also commended "bold measures" taken by central banks to address the financial market turmoil, adding that strains appeared to have eased in recent months even though tensions remained.

There was no mention of currencies despite some speculation from strategists and finance ministers ahead of the meeting.

By Erik Kevin Franco, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , edited by Stephen Huebl, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

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