By Glenn Somerville WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) - As global finance chiefs prepared to sit down to a plateful of unsavory economic issues, the United States tried to rouse optimism on Thursday that the global recovery was not at risk of being derailed. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 rich and emerging countries, and the smaller Group of Seven developed nations, meet later on Thursday to weigh the impact of uncomfortably high oil prices, huge sovereign debt burdens and the disasters in Japan. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, speaking at a conference on the global economy, said the recovery from the 2007-2009 financial crisis was intact and that investment and hiring was starting to pick up. "Despite the risks in oil, the financial challenges still facing parts of Europe, despite what's happened in Japan ... what you see is gradual healing, gradual strengthening in confidence that the world economy is going to be growing at a reasonable rate," he insisted. The G7 countries -- the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan -- meet behind closed doors in the evening to assess the economic damage from Japan's earthquake and uprisings in the Arab world. The International Monetary Fund, which holds its twice-yearly meetings this weekend, warned officials not to grow complacent about the recovery's prospects simply because the worst of the crisis had passed. "The apex of the crisis is behind us but it would be part of the complacency I am trying to avoid to believe we are in a post-crisis era," IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For a diary of scheduled events, [IMF/DIARY] > For a Take a Look of stories, [G7/G8] > Highlights of comments at meetings, [ID:nN14135221] GRAPHICS > Govt debt, bond yields: r.reuters.com/zyg98r > G20 economic measures: r.reuters.com/guh98r > Oil prices and growth: r.reuters.com/tyv88r ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> The larger G20 club of advanced and developing economies holds a working dinner after the G7 meets to push forward on a plan for building a global economy less prone to the booms and busts that have marked the last two decades. Neither group is expected to release a statement on Thursday, with the G20 waiting until it wraps up a day-long meeting on Friday. INFLATION ROILING POLITICAL WORLD In a fresh reminder of the sweeping nature of the global economy's woes, World Bank President Robert Zoellick warned that rising food prices, factors in the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, should be seen as a serious cause for concern. Soaring energy costs were helping to push them higher, he said. [ID:nWALEFE768] France is this year's G20 host and its finance minister, Christine Lagarde, was due to speak later on Thursday. She may set out more details about how the G20 aims to develop standards for assessing whether individual economies harbor imbalances that could be a threat to global stability. China has expressed suspicion that the effort by its G20 colleagues may be aimed at pressuring it to bring down its hefty trade surpluses. New figures on Thursday showed China's foreign exchange reserves had soared to a record of more than $3 trillion by the end of March, a measure of the continuing vigor of the world's second-largest economy that was likely to raise eyebrows. [ID:nL3E7FE19O] The G20 has become the premier forum for figuring out how to make sure there is no recurrence of the financial crisis that triggered the worst global recession since World War Two. G20 leaders agreed in 2009 to shrink imbalances between export-rich countries such as China and debt-burdened consumer economies like the United States. Many economists blame such imbalances for sowing the seeds for the crisis. But as the world economy recovers, the G20 has found it increasingly difficult to forge consensus on exactly how to lay the groundwork for more stable growth. The G20 is expected to complete work on a set of "indicative guidelines" to spot potential trouble spots, although identifying specific countries running afoul of the rules would come later. The United States and China would almost certainly be at the top of that list, but it might also include surplus countries such as Germany and debtors like Britain. For a Q+A on how the G20 aims to tackle imbalances, see [ID:nN134791] Reducing government debt in advanced economies is part of the IMF's prescription for health. The fund caused a stir earlier this week when it said the United States may have a hard time meeting a G20 goal of halving the deficit by 2013. (Reporting by Reuters IMF/G20 team; Editing by Tim Ahmann)

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