French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has promised to launch an "onslaught" against large payouts.

The UK has dismissed the idea, while other countries remain concerned about how best to recover from the recession.

The issues are set to dominate a meeting of the G20 group of leading developed and emerging economies.

At their meeting - a preparatory session for the next full G20 summit - G20 finance ministers will consider whether recent signs of economic improvement should be followed by a reverse of some of the emergency measures implemented to stimulate the global economy.

At the opening of the meeting on September 5, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned that withdrawing government support too early could undermine economic recovery. He also called for consistent rules on bankers' pay and bonuses.

Of European nations, Germany wants the G20 countries to start discussing when and how to withdraw stimulus measures, but fellow European Union members have been reluctant.

Holding a mini-summit away from the G20 meeting, ministers from emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) called for caution, warning it was "too early" to talk of an end to the crisis.

The huge cash injections pumped into businesses by governments around the world could not be withdrawn in a hurry without causing new problems, they said.