This will be Steinbrueck's first international appearance in the post he took over Nov. 22 from Hans Eichel, who was finance minister for more than six years. During the briefing on the G7 meeting, the official said the risks stemming from global imbalances "continue to exist," adding that there's the danger of foreign exchange rate disruptions and abrupt interest rate increases if capital flows reverse their trend. What's more, oil prices risks must be monitored further, said the official who declined to be named. "We expect that we will continue to have high oil prices in the next year," he said. "There can be no doubt," that prices will be above $50 a barrel, he added. Turning to the foreign exchange rate issue, the official said the G7 wants more flexibility in emerging countries and namely in China. In July, China ended its pegging to the U.S. dollar, revaluing the yuan by about 2% to the dollar, and adopted a slightly more flexible system. Late September, the People's Bank of