In advance of two Group of 20 summits scheduled for later this month and

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November, finance ministers and centralbank officials met on June 4 and 5 in Busan, South Korea, to discuss strategies for global economic recovery. Concerns over the European debt crisis have complicated new efforts to evaluate stimulus spending, so officials faced a dilemma: Should nations continue funding stimulus measures until the private sector is stronger, increasing their debt burdens to do so, or should they implement spending cuts that risk making unemployment worse? At the Busan gathering, representatives from the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund said they supported a decrease in spending in order to cultivate investor confidence, underscoring the notion, popular in Europe, that reining in debt should be a top priority.

However, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, representing the United States, said that fiscal consolidation was necessary but needed to be handled carefully. He argued that cutting budgets too soon might stifle economic growth and jeopardize a still-fragile global recovery.

Mr. Geithner also emphasized that officials should not rely on American consumer activity to lead the recovery, as reports indicate that Americans are opting to save rather than spend. Instead, he said, nations with trade surpluses, such as China and Germany, should increase domestic demand.

The Busan meeting set the context for the upcoming summits — in Toronto from June 26- 27 and in Seoul from Nov. 11-12 — where leaders from the international forum, which includes 19 countries and the European Union, are expected to decide conclusively whether stimulus measures should continue through 2011.