The Group of Seven nations is considering releasing a statement on exchange rates this week to calm concern the world is on the brink of a currency war, said three officials from G7 countries.

The world should develop an early-warning system that would alert countries to looming financial threats, France’s finance minister said.

Chancellor Gordon Brown said today that he would press fellow Group of Eight countries to boost funding for education in developing nations at their summit next month.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven industrial countries called today for more flexibility in international exchange rates and warned that excess volatility would hamper global growth.

THE dollar extended its losses on Tuesday, hitting a three-year low against the yen as markets mulled over a new theory Japan would refrain from selling its currency to bolster its exports.