Finance officials confident of global growth

Next up is a September meeting in Australia, ahead of a G-20 summit Nov. 15-16 in Brisbane that President Barack Obama and other world leaders will attend.

The G-20 includes Russia, which helps explain why the group's statement did not mention the Obama administration's threat of "additional significant sanctions" if Moscow were to escalate its actions toward Ukraine.

Instead, finance officials said they were monitoring the situation in Ukraine and were "mindful of any risks to economic and financial stability."

But at a news conference late Friday, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew insisted there was strong support for harsher penalties, saying that Western allies "stand together in asking Russia to step back."

The G-20 endorsed the $14 billion to $18 billion loan package that the IMF has developed to help Ukraine avoid a financial collapse.

IMF officials have said its board probably will approve the assistance plan by early May.
 
The US and various European nations have imposed an initial round of penalties aimed at punishing Russia for its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.