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Guardian:  Finance ministers from G7 countries hold urgent talks to try to prevent loss of confidence in world’s biggest economy

World leaders are battling to prevent panic from spreading across financial markets as the sudden downgrading of the US credit rating triggered fears of global turmoil when stock exchanges open.

Finance ministers from the G7 leading industrial countries – many of them away on summer holiday – agreed to a series of urgent weekend telephone talks to try to prevent a loss of confidence in the world’s biggest economy. But the uncertainty grew when the Saudi market dropped by a massive 5.5%.

French finance minister François Baroin, whose country holds the G7 presidency, said he been in contact with colleagues for 24 hours. “We’ll be carefully watching the evolution of what might happen on Monday,” he said. . . .

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/aug/06/europe-g7-us-credit-rating-debt