Finance chiefs from the Group of Seven industrialised economies yesterday vowed after emergency talks to respond "speedily" to the eurozone's fiscal crisis, Japan's finance minister said.

Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the world's seven most industrialised nations held the call just days after US President Barack Obama blamed Europe for sluggishness in the US economy.

The USTreasury confirmed in a statement that Europe was a key topic of the call, saying the ministers and governors reviewed developments in the global economy and financial markets "and the policy response under consideration, including the progress towards financial and fiscal union in Europe."

The talks came as Spain warned it could soon no longer afford to borrow on the markets in the clearest sign yet that it will require a rescue that Madrid's European partners may not be able to afford.

Concern has grown that two years of problems in the eurozone are pulling the world economy out of a fragile recovery with Obama on Friday saying the crisis in Europe