February 27, 2012 - 10:01 AMT
G20 discuss potential impact of Iran oil sanctions

A senior G20 official said on Sunday, Feb 26, there was considerable discussion on the sidelines of the Mexico G20 meeting about the potential impact that sanctions against Iran may have on the global economic recovery.

According to Reuters, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the discussions had been constructive and focused on consumers' and producers' plans for ensuring that higher oil prices did not derail the fragile global recovery.

The official said there had been no talks among the Group of 20 finance ministers about releasing some reserves of oil that their nations hold in a bid to tamp down oil price speculation.

The official also said that most of the two-day talks focused on curbing Europe's debt crisis and said there was broad agreement about the need for Europe to bolster its financial firewall against potential contagion. The calls came from both inside and outside Europe, and were not emanating from any single country, the official emphasized.