G20 eyes bankers' pay amid warnings over recovery

G20 finance ministers meet here tomorrow to chart the next steps out of the global economic crisis, with calls to curb bankers' bonuses as part of beefed-up financial market rules topping the agenda.       

But on the eve of the meeting their British host Alistair Darling warned against complacency due to emerging signs of recovery from the world's worst global slowdown in generations.       

"The biggest single risk to recovery is that people think the job is done. There is a real risk that either governments or people generally think 'We have done that, we are on the path to recovery'," he told The Independent newspaper.       

The ministers are facing European calls to crack down on bonuses, which many blame for encouraging excessive risk-taking, as they prepare for a full summit of Group of 20 leaders in Pittsburgh on September 24-25.      

With Japan, France and Germany officially out of recession, minds are also turning to coordinating the withdrawal of stimulus packages and government bailouts for banks — although with caution.