The Financial Times said that it had obtained a confidential tender issued in December by the British government to split G20 nations into "A" and "B" classes and Turkey was reported among "B".

Beside Turkey, "B" list includes Australia, Russia, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Argentina, according to the report.

But The newspaper said the tender focused on 11 high priority states -- the United States, Japan, Germany, France, China, India, South Africa, South Korea, Brazil, Italy and Saudi Arabia.

The report came ahead of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in southern England hosted by British finance minister Alistair Darling this weekend under pressure to show progress to both a domestic electorate and still-falling financial markets.

The meeting will set the scene for the G20 summit on April 2, where global policymakers will be under pressure to commit to firm action to stave off an economic slump and to clean up the financial system.

Britain said it had not split the G20 group of leading developed and emerging nations into high and low priorities, but did not deny the existence of a document identifying 11 high-priority states.

The European Commission, which represents the interests of the entire European Union, was also included, the newspaper said.

When asked if Brown had an "A" list and "B" list for the G20, his spokesman said: "No, he doesn't."

Asked for details on the tender document, he declined to comment.

Brown has been pressing cash-rich states such as China and Saudi Arabia to boost the International Monetary Fund's coffers to give it more power to help struggling economies -- a key demand on Brown's G20 agenda.

The co-operation of large economies and major financial centres such as Japan, the EU and the United States will also be vital in making the G20 summit a success for Brown who is well behind in opinion polls ahead of an election due by mid-2010.

Reuters

Güncelleme Tarihi: 13 Mart 2009, 16:50