Finance ministers from the world's eight richest countries gathered in London Friday for a two-day meeting, amid appeals to finalize a deal on African debt relief.

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, chair of the meeting comprising Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States, said he believed there was a "will to come to an agreement" on the biggest anti-poverty program ever seen.

"Thanks to the meeting between (US) President (George W.) Bush and (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair, we have made progress this week, and I believe we can make the additional progress over the next two days," the minister told BBC radio ahead of the meeting.

"Of course, much is to be discussed because you are talking about dozens of countries and billions in money ... but there is a will to come to an agreement," he added.

The United States and Britain have offered a proposal for rich nations to cancel 100 percent of debt for the world's poorest countries, ahead of the upcoming G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, next month.

Both countries "agreed that highly indebted developing countries that are on the path to reform should not be burdened by mountains of debt," Bush said on Tuesday after talks with Blair.

However, a German government official said in Berlin on Thursday he did not expect a final decision on debt relief at the weekend.

The cancellation of multilateral debt is a centerpiece of the so-called new "Marshall Plan" for Africa proposed by Brown in January after Britain took on the chairmanship of the G8.

The British proposal, based on a Commission for Africa report, also calls on rich nations to increase aid to Africa by 25 billion US dollars each year to 2010 while providing 100 percent debt relief and breaking down trade barriers.

An additional 25 billion dollars would also be provided beginning in 2015.

Currently, the poorest nations owe debts of 80 billion dollars to multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

Besides the debt relief proposal, the finance ministers are also expected to discuss their own economic problems, high oil prices and measures to prevent them from further rising.

Source: Xinhua