Group of Seven officials, signaling concern over a sliding dollar for the first time in 13 years, may have to match talk with action before the currency stages a sustained rebound.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and G-7 counterparts warned after talks in Washington on April 11 that recent ``sharp fluctuations'' in exchange rates risk hurting the global economy.

Sounding the alarm over the weakest dollar since the 1970s may still fail to buoy it so long as the ECB refuses to follow the Federal Reserve in cutting interest rates. Wariness of backing rhetoric with intervention may also limit the new language's effectiveness.

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``Officials are clearly more concerned about the dollar, but are not yet ready to openly threaten the market because they know they would not be credible with the ECB's reluctance to lower interest rates,'' said Stephen Jen, head of currency research at Morgan Stanley in London.

ECB council member Yves Mersch said in an April 12 interview that the bank can't afford to cut interest rates this year with inflation likely to breach its 2 percent limit in 2009.

The dollar pared its gains on Mersch's comments, trading at $1.5790 per euro at 12 p.m. in Frankfurt from $1.5808 late in New York on April 11. It earlier reached $1.56 a euro, the strongest level since April 3. The dollar traded at 101.18 yen from 100.95.

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