In a joint interview with Reuters, US Treasury Secretary John Snow and British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said they welcomed Saudi Arabia's pledge to pump more oil, and that they expect members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to announce production hikes in June.

"The action of Saudi Arabia is to be praised," Snow said.

"They are committed to playing a leadership role in getting oil producers to increase output."

The two finance chiefs were speaking after a weekend meeting in New York of top finance officials from the Group of Seven economic powers, which called on all oil producers to boost output in order to protect the global economic expansion.

The G-7 - the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan - issued a communique on Sunday saying oil producers should raise production for the benefit of the global economy. Recently, prices have spiked above $40 a barrel though they have slipped back slightly.

"We now call on all oil producers to take action to provide adequate supplies to ensure that world oil prices return to levels consistent with lasting global economic prosperity and stability, in particular for the poorest developing countries," the G-7 communique said.

Members of the Opec oil-producing group are scheduled to meet in Beirut on June 3 to consider calls by the G-7 and by Saudi Arabia for hikes in production quotas. Some Opec members have criticised Saudi Arabia's announcement that it will unilaterally increase its production, raising concern about whether it can sway the other Opec members.

Snow and Brown were optimistic that Opec will act. "Lower oil prices clearly are a welcome thing for the global economy," Snow said. "I am hopeful that at the June meeting we will see some pronouncements that larger supplies will be coming forth."