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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Finance ministers from the world's most industrialized nations were upbeat about the global economy Saturday despite global jitters about rising interest rates and tumbling stocks.

The G-8 ministers' final statement focused on the dangers of galloping oil prices and "widening" global imbalances. But it did not mention interest-rate increases in several countries and recent declines on world markets. And ministers later brushed aside fears of economic turbulence.

"As we look around the global economy today we see no major crises, no major economies in recession, we see strong growth, inflation well-contained, interest rates at the low end of the historic level and rising prosperity," U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said at a news conference.

The ministers' statement made no direct reference to the U.S. trade deficit but recognized that tackling global imbalances was a "shared responsibility." The U.S. Commerce Department said Friday that the trade deficit rose to $63.4 billion in April after two months of rare declines, pushed higher by surging oil prices and a flood of furniture, televisions and toys from China.

Snow reaffirmed a goal of slashing the deficit before President Bush leaves office in 2009.

"We are well on target for cutting the deficit in half," he said.

French Finance Minister Thierry Breton noted that inflation was "clearly under control" and that recent European Central Bank interest-rate hikes were in fact a vote of confidence in the European economy.

But Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki sounded a note of caution, warning that recent stock price drops were a "major economic indicator."

Ministers called for transparent, reliable energy market data and a global system for tracking supply and demand as a means for tackling "high and volatile" oil prices.

Russia is set to host the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg next month.