Finance Ministers Will Try to Measure Obama's Support for Global Initiatives

By STACY MEICHTRY

The G-7 meeting in Rome Friday and Saturday could provide insight into the economic policies of President Barack Obama and his Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner.

The conference will bring together finance ministers of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations for the first time since Mr. Obama's inauguration. The meeting comes at a delicate moment, as protectionist winds are sweeping the globe and nations are struggling to agree on cross-border financial regulation to shore up the world's financial system.

Germany, France and host Italy have been pushing for a comprehensive overhaul of the world financial-regulatory system. That might enhance the powers of international bodies such as the International Monetary Fund and the Financial Stability Forum to enforce tighter regulation and supervision. However, no breakthroughs are expected at the G-7 meeting, people familiar with the matter say, because of the group's limited membership.

The G-7 contains the U.S., Canada, Japan and the four biggest European economies -- Germany, the U.K., France and Italy. Russia also has been invited to Rome. But that isn't enough to forge a broad consensus because major developing economies such as China will be absent.

Instead, this week's meeting is seen as a warm-up for the G-20 summit in London in early April. That will include China, as well as other big developing economies.

Measuring the Obama administration's support for international financial initiatives won't be easy. Mr. Geithner is a familiar face to many G-7 finance ministers through his previous role as the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. However, finance ministers are uncertain about how much power he wields within the administration.

Lawrence Summers, head of the National Economic Council who was Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, has played a major role in forging Mr. Obama's economic-recovery plan, sparring with Mr. Geithner over how to save U.S. banks and helping steer the administration's giant stimulus bill through Congress.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has requested a meeting with Mr. Summers as well as one with Mr. Geithner when she travels to the U.S. later this month, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Write to Stacy Meichtry at stacy.meichtry@wsj.com