Helicopters buzzed above the city and police barricades were erected throughout downtown Washington as finance ministers from the world¿s seven wealthiest countries (G7) met to assess the global economic recovery.
But with worries about oil prices and trade issues, there mood was cautious rather than optimistic.
Scores of protesters gathered during the morning to air their complaints on causes as varied as globalization, the US war on terror and Israeli military actions on the West Bank.
A G7 source said the communique from the meeting will say prospects for growth in the global economy were good but that rising oil prices posed a potential threat. In general, ministers put a brighter face on the global economic picture, but with caveats, notably about costlier energy.
"If you compare the present situation with our previous meeting, the situation is much better," France's finance minister Mr Laurent Fabius told reporters as he went into the building. "But we still have some risks."
Ministers from the Group of Seven - the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan - met in February in Ottawa but the gathering that casts the longest shadow over this weekend's session is the one they held last Autumn in the wake of devastating September 11 attacks.
The global economy narrowly escaped a recession last year as consumers and businesses largely shook off the shock of the attacks. But a key agenda item was how to intensify the fight to keep terror groups from using the financial system to move money earmarked for more attacks.
In a reminder of the new and unsettling threat to global stability, the FBI yesterday issued an alert to financial institutions in the U.S. Northeast and mid-Atlantic states about potential attacks against them, citing information from a top al Qaeda member in Pakistan.
The finance chiefs held a working dinner Friday, inviting representatives from non-G7 countries specifically to discuss how to identify and block the assets of more suspect groups.
Sources said representatives from Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland were at the dinner to talk about terror funding.
The outline of their cautiously upbeat take on economic conditions was already apparent. In the days before the meeting, G7 ministers stressed an upturn was under way but were in accord that everyone must guard against complacency.
"We want to make sure the recovery (is) well-anchored and takes hold and obviously is continued," Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin told reporters last night.
A recent hike in oil prices, fueled by Middle East turmoil and a rise in demand as the global economy improves, risks curbing expansion by sapping spending power and forcing inflation up. World oil prices have surged in the past few weeks with futures finishing the week above $26 a barrel.
Argentina's financial crisis was also discussed with Mr Rodrigo Rato, the chairman of the Euro Group of finance ministers, saying there was hope for resolving the South American country's call for support from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF and World Bank begin spring meetings Saturday after the finance chiefs wrap up.
"I think that a package is possible and right now the responsible people at the IMF and Argentine authorities are closing the last details," Rato said.
Among the risks to an emerging recovery, say the Europeans, is a return to trade protectionism after the US slapped tariffs on steel in the teeth of global opposition.
At an early meeting with reporters, Austrian Finance Minister Mr Karl-Heinz Grasser warned of growing European anger at the U.S. action, which he said violated free-trade principles.
"Europe will decide for [trade] retaliation," Mr Grasser told reporters at a breakfast briefing. "It's getting serious now."