G20 finmins meeting in London Sept 5

LONDON (Reuters) - Finance ministers and central bankers from the G20 nations agreed on Saturday that extraordinary economic stimulus measures should stay in place until recovery is secured.

They skirted around the issue of slapping limits on banker pay and bonuses and kicked the issue forward to the Pittsburgh leaders summit September 24-25.

Following are a selection of key quotes.

COMMENTS AFTER G20 MEETING

SWEDISH FINANCE MINISTER ANDERS BORG, CURRENT EU PRESIDENCY

"On climate change I must admit that Europe has high ambitions, we would really like to push forward toward Pittsburgh and eventually Copenhagen meeting, and to it is clear that the comments (in the communique) we were able to reach were not satisfactory. Obviously there are different view on this issue, for us it is a major challenge. You know the numbers, there are hundreds of millions of people who are seriously affected by climate change and we urgently need to move forward on financing and mitigation. We would have been very happy to move further than we were able to at this meeting. I think now we must rely on the U.S. to make progress for Pittsburg."

EU ECONOMIC, MONETARY AFFAIRS COMMISSIONER JOAQUIN ALMUNIA

--ECONOMY: "We need to fully implement the stimulus that was adopted to contribute to the recovery that is showing to us positive signals. (There are) good figures in some of our countries but it is not yet sustainable. We need these fiscal and monetary instruments to help demand, but at the same time, given that we know these good figures of the second quarter of this year and the revised forecasts by the ECB and OECD, we know that a lot of factors are still policy driven. We need to introduce sustainability in our economies from the point of view of growth and public finances."

-- CLIMATE CHANGE: "We cannot forget our long-term challenges. It is urgent to tackle our long-term challenges, in particular climate change and I am also a little disappointed by the lack of positive commitment today."

AUSTRALIAN TREASURER WAYNE SWAN

"This global recession is not a sprint, it's a marathon, and there's a lot more that remains to be done. What stands out for me is the determination to implement economic stimulus."

"It's pleasing to see that the G20 and the IMF understand the importance of fully implementing econ stimulus to keep customers going through the doors of business and to keep people employed while the global economy is fragile."

"We had a discussion about the need for coordinated exit strategies when the time is right, and ministers of course believe that the time is not right yet. We had a talk about the need to involve the IMF and the Financial Stability Board in assessing the time and also looking at possible strategies. "

ARGENTINA ECONOMY MINISTER, AMADO BOUDOU

"One piece of good news, the document includes a specific consideration toward countries that are allowed to define their own exit strategy. This is a marked difference from the Washington consensus where everyone was fitted into the same framework, and the programs were defined by the multilateral agencies.

This could be defined as the absence of a single approach."

ECB GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBER CHRISTIAN NOYER ON BASEL II

"The statement of (U.S. Treasury Secretary) Tim Geithner for me, it was really the moment where the United States joined the common position" that strengthening bank capital would be addressed in the Basel II framework. "I am very pleased that the communique reconfirms that everybody is in agreement for it to be a universal norm that all the G20 countries will put in place very quickly."

JAPAN SENIOR VICE FINANCE MINISTER WATARU TAKESHITA

"Even with a change in government, there will be no change to Japan's stance that international cooperation is necessary to overcome the economic and financial crisis."

"Bank compensation should be such that it avoids excessive risk-taking."

"Japan's economy is showing signs of growth, but jobs are still a concern."

BANK OF JAPAN GOVERNOR MASAAKI SHIRAKAWA

"We did not discuss monetary policies of individual central banks at the G20 meeting. But it is appropriate to have a 'transparent and credible process' for withdrawing extraordinary policies."

JEAN-CLAUDE TRICHET, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

"The time is certainly not a time for complacency in any respect.

"What is important is that our credibility is there. We know how to go into the exit mode. Nobody is disputing that, it is extremely important. On the other hand, it is not yet time. It is premature to declare the crisis over.

"But any time when it will be necessary in our own judgment and on our own analysis of the inflationary risk, and of the anchoring of inflation expectations, we will do what will be necessary."

BRAZILIAN FINANCE MINISTER GUIDO MANTEGA

"(Our suggestion) is 7 percent should be transferred from the share of participants from developed countries to emerging countries. Today many European countries have lost much of their former importance so they are over-represented. They should transfer some of their quota to emerging countries.

FRENCH ECONOMY MINISTER CHRISTINE LAGARDE:

"The conclusion is that we reached agreement on the key issues.

The first key issue was our determination to continue to stimulate our economy in order to strengthen the stabilization process while at the same time considering exit strategies which in due course will be implementable on a timely basis depending on the country's situation, but we concluded that the economic situation was fragile and that we need to continue our effort to support it."

-- ON BONUSES: "All countries, even those which did not want to use language that included the words remuneration, or limits were in agreement.....We've asked the FSB to come back to Pittsburgh with actual proposals concerning limitations of remunerations and that is a very important point."

"Bonuses are quite outrageous and we cannot let that continue as it is at the moment."

-- ON BANK CAPITAL AND BASEL II

"(U.S. Treasury Secretary) Timothy Geithner was very clear on the subject, he said there was not the least ambiguity and that the United States would conform with Basel II."

GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER PEER STEINBRUECK

ON EXIT STRATEGIES:

"I can't define a timetable right now, but policymakers will be well advised to be prepared because when this crisis is over, we will have to think how to consolidate our budgets again, how to prevent worldwide inflation and how to get authorities to invest in infrastructure and R&D and not in stabilizing the banking system."

EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK'S AXEL WEBER:

"The calming in financial markets is no reason to let up on reforms, either on banking or in regulation."

"We have to be cautious, a lot of the recovery we've seen has been from the stimulus measures. Some of the consumption has been brought forward -- from the car scrappage scheme."

"German second quarter growth was very good and it looks like the third quarter will be even better, but we have to be cautious about 2010"

RUSSIAN FINANCE MINISTER ALEXEI KUDRIN

-- ON IMF REFORM: "There are no grounds to expect decision on this (quotas) in Pittsburgh. On IMF I think it will happen next year, not earlier...For now we haven't yet started a rapprochement."

--ON CLIMATE CHANGE: "Some participants thought we should make a strong statement on this issue, including possibly increasing the resources allocated to it. The other contingent thought this discussion, and these decisions should take place in Copenhagen."

-- COMPARED TO APRIL SUMMIT? "That was probably a more important meeting because we worked out a range of measures, where as now we were assessing the results. Then, we were meeting after two quarters of (economic) freefall, unprecedented in world history. Today everyone was in a calmer mood."

-- ON BONUSES

"Expectations were very high in terms of (agreement on) bonuses, which is unfair in relation to a meeting which was 80 percent focused on other issues...The media attention was disproportionately focused on the bonuses."

UK FINANCE MINISTER ALISTAIR DARLING

-- ON ECONOMIC OUTLOOK:"No one should think the job's done. There is a lot of risk, there is a lot of uncertainty and a lot of obstacles to be negotiated."

"But provided countries show and demonstrate their determination to do everything they can to support their economies, I am confident we can get through this. I am confident but that confidence has to be tempered by a sensible dose of caution."

-- ON BONUSES: "I am pretty clear that if you try and cap bonuses at a set sum it would be pretty easy ... to get your way around it.... A regulator might take a view on whether or not a particular pool of bonuses ... whether or not the pool set aside is reasonable with regard to the financial health of the institution."

ITALIAN FINANCE MINISTER GIULIO TREMONTI

"The deal on banks compensations wants to send a wider message: it does not make sense that banks manage governments and politics" Tremonti said at the sidelines of G20 meeting.

"It does not make sense that banks are larger than governments since their problems become governments' problems".

"Banks have raised a lot of money from governments, especially abroad, but they are not lending enough to companies... this is a problem also for Italy"

GERMAN DEPUTY FINANCE MINISTER JOERG ASMUSSEN

--ON EXIT STRATEGY: "No one said the crisis is already over. We are seeing a stabilization."

"No one said we should today withdraw the expansive monetary, fiscal stimulus and financial market stabilization measures, but there was a consensus that we should prepare so that in the future we should withdraw these measures in a coordinated and cooperative way."

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER GORDON BROWN:

-- ON G20 COOPERATION: "Twelve months ago people were afraid for their savings as bank after bank threatened to fall. Even six months ago people were still talking about the possibility of a Great Depression."

"We are at a new and critical juncture for cooperation in the global economy.

"This is not the time for complacency or over-confidence.

-- ON REMOVING STIMULUS TOO EARLY: "It would be an error of historic proportions if we were to repeat the errors of the 1930s.... With more than half of the total five trillion (dollar) fiscal expansion yet to start, I believe the prudent course is for G20 countries to deliver these fiscal plans and the stimulus packages that have been put in place and make sure that they are implemented in full both this year and the next."