Finance ministers and central bank governors belonging from seven of the richest countries in the world have gathered in Iqaluit for a two-day conference to discuss problems hampering the global economy.

"I hope the seven of us this weekend can agree on the urgency of actually implementing changes, and persuading the rest of our G20 colleagues that this is a problem that has not gone away, it needs to be sorted out", Alistair Darling, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer said in an interview at the British Treasury.

Also, he warned that the meeting could be the last chance to propel a new bank-regulation system before the G8 and G20 summits of world leaders this summer, also in Canada, and that there is a wide distance between nations on how to proceed.

The G7 meeting, the first high-level international meeting held in the Nunavut capital, is considered a venue for special informal discussions between financial leaders from Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.

However, no concluding written communiqué is to be issued in the meeting, unlike past G7 meetings.

G20 meetings, which include emerging economies such as China, Brazil and India, have emerged as a more influential forum for framing global economic policies.