Leaders from the Group of 20 are discussing how to put the world economy on a sounder footing as renewed fears over Ireland's ability to pay its debts underscored the lingering fallout of the global financial crisis.
The G20 had hoped to use a two-day summit to recapture the unity forged in the depths of the crisis two years ago in order to soothe tensions over exchange rates generated by imbalances between cash-rich exporting nations and debt-burdened importers.
But even as US President Barack Obama voiced confidence that leaders would find a formula for more balanced and sustainable growth, negotiators squabbled over the language in a closing statement to be issued when the summit ends tomorrow.
The meeting has been billed as a chance for rich nations to strike a grand bargain on how to rejuvenate the world economic order with emerging powerhouses like India and China.
But leaders appeared unlikely to venture far beyond agreements reached by their finance ministers last month.
A major irritant in the run-up to the summit has been the Federal Reserve's $600bn bond-buying spree to revive the US economy, which emerging markets fear will trigger a flood of money into their markets, boosting inflation and asset prices.
Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan stirred that pot, saying the US central bank's policy was deliberately weakening the dollar.
'The US will never do that,' Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner shot back in an interview with CNBC. 'We will never seek to weaken our currency as a tool to gain competitive advantage or to grow the economy.'
Mr Geithner again criticised China's currency policies, saying the world's second-largest economy risked stoking inflation pressures.
China earlier reported that consumer price inflation had hit a 25-month high in October.
Yu Jianhua, an official with China's Ministry of Commerce, said Beijing had no intention to confront the United States over currencies or trade issues.
Washington has welcomed the slow-but-steady appreciation, although it has said the rate of climb needs to be swifter.
Bonds hit record high
Ireland saw the yields on its bonds spike to a record high over those of Germany, the eurozone benchmark.
The Government is trying to convince investors that it will not become the second member of the eurozone, after Greece, to need an emergency bailout.
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said the European Union had the means to help Ireland, but he did not commit the bloc to a fresh course of action.
'What is important to know is that we have all the essential instruments in place in the European Union and euro zone to act if necessary, but I am not going to make any speculation,' he told reporters on the margins of the summit.
