Forex berza

The dollar drifted mostly sideways on Friday, as finance ministers of the G20 nations gathered in South Korea for talks on currencies and the global economy.

Hoping to head off a potential currency war and addressing China without saying so, US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner called for G20 countries to refrain from "either weakening their currency or preventing the appreciation of an undervalued currency."

Earlier in the week, Geithner insisted the US maintains a strong dollar policy. He was responding to accusations that the Federal Reserve has used easy monetary policy as a tool to weaken the dollar in support of exporters here.

Geithner also told G20 members they should commit to specific trade caps on surpluses and deficits in order to balance out the global economy. The US maintains that a cap on surpluses would encourage domestic consumption among nations that are currently dependent on exports for growth.

Germany and Japan have already expressed opposition.

The dollar was steady near $1.3950 versus the euro, having wobbled near an 8-month low of $1.4150 for the past week.

The buck firmed very slightly to Y81.38 versus the yen, staying away from a record low of 79.80. The buck hit 80.83 earlier in the week -- its lowest in 15 years.

There was little movement for the buck against the loonie, with the pair staying near C$1.0235.

Canadian inflation remained tame in September, roughly in line with the Bank of Canada's target rate, official data revealed Friday.

Led by rising energy costs, consumer prices rose 1.9% in the 12 months to September, following a 1.7% increase in August, Statistics Canada said.

The European Central Bank cannot raise its key interest rate prematurely as it will jeopardize the economic recovery, Ewald Nowotny, governing council member of the central bank said in Vienna on Friday.

But it would be raised in the long term, he added. "The current key interest rate is one that we put in place during a crisis," he said.