''Vigorous action is needed to address global imbalances and foster growth," the joint statement said.
The statement followed talks hosted by Treasury Secretary John Snow and Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan. Participants came from the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, and Canada.
On Friday, Wall Street had its worst single-session loss in nearly two years, a selloff blamed on investors' concerns that rising oil prices threaten to derail the economic recovery in the United States and other industrial nations.
Snow said the joint statement should send a strong signal that the major economic powers are monitoring the energy situation and taking necessary action. He urged Congress to pass President Bush's stalled energy bill, which would open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration.
''We are much better able to absorb the headwinds of high energy prices, but it still hurts," Snow said.
Snow said the administration was ''strongly committed" to reducing a budget deficit, which is projected to reach a record $427 billion this year. Other G-7 nations said that lowering that deficit was essential to reducing Washington's need for foreign financing of both the budget and trade deficits.
''It's clear that the financing of the American deficit by foreign, mainly Asian, central banks that has been increased over past years cannot be continued," said Germany's finance minister, Hans Eichel.
The G-7 officials expressed optimism that the economy would grow at a solid rate this year, an outlook they base on favorable factors such as subdued inflation and central banks' interest-rate policies.
But the group warned against complacency and said the major economic powers must act on various fronts: the United States to cut its record budget deficits, Europe and Japan to undertake workplace reforms.
The G-7 discussions were held in advance of weekend meetings of the 184-nation International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
