TOKYO (AFP) ― European finance ministers from the Group of Seven economies vowed after emergency talks on Tuesday to respond “speedily” to the continent’s fiscal crisis, Japan’s finance minister said.

“We were able to share our recognition on the European issue,” Jun Azumi was quoted by Jiji Press as saying after a conference call with his G7 counterparts. “The European side stated that they will respond to it speedily.”

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

The U.S. Treasury 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.”

“They agreed to monitor developments closely ahead of the G20 summit in Los Cabos.”

Azumi also said Tuesday that he asked other leaders to reaffirm previous policy calls to decry excess volatility and speculative movements in foreign-exchanges rates.

“I have told them frankly that the current foreign-exchange conditions are very severe for the Japanese economy in that they are having a very bad impact on Japan’s economy,” Azumi told reporters in Tokyo.

The Japanese yen has remained persistently strong after hitting record highs against the U.S. dollar last year, which has dented Japan’s exporters by making their products more expensive overseas.

Currency traders have flocked to the safe-haven unit amid fears about the euro and a lumbering recovery in the United States.

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 had “cast a shadow” on the U.S. after an unexpected uptick in unemployment.

Spain declared Tuesday it is being virtually shut out of stormy credit markets but a bailout is technically impossible for the eurozone’s fourth-biggest economy.