WASHINGTON, April 25 (AFP) – G20 finance ministers hailed a better-than-expected economic recovery and said it was time for plans to unwind measures to tackle the waning global crisis.

The ministers remained split however over support of a global bank tax, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty acknowledged after a meeting of counterparts from 20 leading developed and developing countries in Washington.

''The global recovery has progressed better than previously anticipated largely due to the G20's unprecedented and concerted policy effort,'' a statement released after the meeting said.

''We should all elaborate credible exit strategies from extraordinary macroeconomic and financial support measures that are tailored to individual country circumstances.''

When asked at a subsequent press conference about issues on which ministers differed, Flaherty said: ''There was not agreement on a global bank tax. Some countries are in favor of that, some countries quite clearly are not.''

The G20 ministers asked the International Monetary Fund, which hosted the meeting, to draft additional proposals for bank taxes to help stem excessive risk taking and pay for bank bail-outs that were needed to prevent a financial sector meltdown.

IMF experts are to consider ''how the financial sector could make a fair and substantial contribution towards paying for any burdens associated with government interventions to repair the banking system,'' the statement said.

The IMF was set to propose two taxes, one to reimburse governments for the cost of bailing out banks hit by the crisis, and another to dissuade banks from taking excessive risks in the future.

US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told a press briefing: ''It's a basic sense of fairness that we adopt that basic framework.''

But G20 ministers face tough discussions, since opposition to the tax was expressed by countries including Brazil and Canada.

Governments worldwide spent trillions of dollars to prop up financial markets after risky bank investments tanked, driving countries like Greece deep into debt.

Flaherty said the meeting had discussed the Greek deficit and debt crisis, saying: ''It is of course a source of concern to us.''