G-20 finance chiefs say they are close to goal of boosting world economy by $2 trillion

SYDNEY – Finance chiefs from the 20 largest economies say they are close to reaching their goal of boosting world GDP by more than $2 trillion over the next five years.

Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey is the host of the Group of 20 meeting in the northern Australian city of Cairns. He said on Sunday that the G-20 finance ministers and central bankers had agreed to more than 900 policy initiatives to meet the goal they set earlier this year.

The G-20 said an analysis of those initiatives show they should boost the combined gross domestic product of member countries by 1.8 percent above levels expected for the next five years. That's just short of the group's target of 2 percent.