By Leah Schnurr
OTTAWA, April 12 (Reuters) - Group of 20 finance ministers
are unlikely to reach a consensus on whether greater fiscal
measures are needed to boost growth when they meet later this
week, a senior Canadian finance official said on Tuesday.
The issue of tax evasion and avoidance is also expected to
be in the spotlight after the so-called Panama Papers leak when
ministers meet in Washington at the end of the week as part of
the International Monetary Fund's spring meetings.
While some have called for greater action on the fiscal
front, other countries at the table have argued they don't have
room to take such steps, the official told reporters.
Although there is concern about where global growth is
going, there is not the sense that the situation is dire, the
official said.
Canada's new Liberal government won power last year
campaigning on a plan to run deficits that would be invested in
infrastructure, with the goal of boosting growth rates. That
stance has made it a rarity among major economies, with many
countries more focused on austerity.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau is expected to use the meeting
to highlight the fiscal spending measures announced in last
month's budget, which included a deficit nearly three times
larger than promised during the election.
The IMF earlier on Tuesday cut its global growth forecast
for the fourth time this year, due to the slowdown in China, low
oil prices and weakness in advanced economies.
Ministers are also likely to discuss the impacts of monetary
policy and to what extent central banks are reaching the limits
of those policies, the official said, though he noted a number
of central banks, including the Bank of Canada, have said they
have not run out of tools.