OTTAWA, Feb 10: A drumroll of optimism rumbled through the corridors of a meeting of world financial leaders on Saturday as policy-makers dared to hope that the chances of growth and prosperity were starting to outweigh the risks.

In a statement weighted more toward the economic upside than to the still ever-present risks, finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of Seven rich industrialized nations, the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Canada, said they were more upbeat now than at their last meeting, back in October.

“We discussed the global economic outlook and the current slowdown. We are in agreement that we expect it to be short-lived,” said Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin, the chairman of the two-day meeting.

The meetings, held in and near an icy Canadian capital, took place to the clang of pots and pans banged together by small groups of anti-capitalist demonstrators who say G7 policies of free trade and open markets have done nothing to help the poor and are responsible for troubles in Argentina.

At one stage protesters, scampering across a frozen lake, got to within shouting distance of the government retreat where the meeting took place. Others also trampled a large and obscene anti-G7 message into the snow within clear sight of the ministers.

But the protests were far smaller than at previous international gatherings and the demonstrators, bundled up against the cold, were quickly turned back by police on snowmobiles.

The G7, in language identical to that used in previous statements, also promised to monitor exchange rates and cooperate as appropriate.

But they did not mention individual currencies by name, and officials said foreign exchange rates had not been a topic, even on the sidelines.—Reuters