World leaders are gathering in Mexico for a G20 summit which is expected to be dominated by concerns about the crisis in the eurozone.
The victory of a pro-bailout party in the Greek election did not give stock markets the expected boost.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told other European leaders: "I think what we are going to transmit is a message of confidence in the euro."
Interest rates on Spanish bonds hit fresh highs on Monday.
BBC World Service economics correspondent Andrew Walker says that while Europe is clearly the big danger, there are also problems elsewhere in the G20, starting with the two largest national economies, the US and China.
The slowdown in India is something else for the G20 to fret about, our correspondent adds.
“Start Quote
End QuoteThe sun is shining here, and the agenda at this summit looks lighter than it has been for years. But President Obama's message will be that the financial storm clouds are still hovering, and the risks of yet another global slowdown are all too real.”
US President Barack Obama was due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday in the resort of Los Cabos, which is hosting the summit.
He also met Mexican President Felipe Calderon at the G20, and told him that the Greek election results meant that there was a "positive prospect" of the formation of a Greek government that would address its debt crisis with international help.
Chancellor Merkel said any new government in Greece would have to comply with the promises of the previous one.
"Elections cannot call into question the commitments Greece made. We cannot compromise on the reform steps we agreed on," she said.
'No lessons'Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper called on eurozone leaders to make structural changes to solve the debt crisis.
Analysis
The mantra at this G20 summit may be that everyone needs to pull together to avoid a global slowdown, but there is plenty of veiled acrimony.
For those outside the eurozone, the verdict is that the crisis there is alarming and its leaders need to do whatever it takes to end it. There is also some impatience and incredulity that such a rich continent seems so incapable of taking decisive action.
A touch defensively, the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso told a press conference he had not come to G20 to be given lessons.
President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy added that while Europe might have internal weaknesses to correct, other countries had their own imbalances and unfulfilled promises.
This was partly a nod to the new IMF bailout fund, agreed in principle in April: a global firewall in case the eurozone crisis began to spiral dangerously.
Ahead of this G20 summit, Brazil, Russia, China and Mexico all pointedly failed to commit to their pledges and some of them hinted that Europe could hardly expect them to dig deep into their pockets without a quid pro quo: making good on promised reforms to allot them more voting rights at the IMF's top table.
"What the European countries need to do and what we'll be looking to see are clear commitments that they are prepared to take all of the necessary actions... and to create the structural changes necessary to create a... financial union in Europe," he said.
But European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso mounted a strong defence of the EU's handling of the crisis so far.
"Frankly, we are not coming here to receive lessons in terms of democracy or in terms of how to handle the economy," he told reporters.
He added that he expected G20 leaders to "speak very clearly in favour of the approach the EU is following".
President Putin called for rules to allow protectionism for countries facing a financial crisis.
"It is time to stop pretending and come to an honest agreement on the acceptable level of protectionist measures that governments can take to protect jobs in times of global crisis," he said.
"This is particularly important for Russia as our country will join the WTO [World Trade Organisation] this year and we intend to take an active part in the discussions on the future rules for global trade."
BBC diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall said: "For a forum which has always loudly claimed that free trade is the engine of growth, that is little less than heretical."
President Obama had earlier talked about the importance of avoiding protectionism, which is the process of making imports more expensive to protect domestic jobs.
| Country | Growth (% GDP change, 2010-11) | Unemployment (% 2011) | External debt (% GDP, end of 2011) |
|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina | 8.9 | 7.5 | 7.6 |
 Australia | 2.2 | 5.1 | 86.6 |
 Brazil | 2.7 | 6 | 17.2 |
 Canada | 2.4 | 7.5 | 70.2 |
 China - mainland | n/a | 4.1 | n/a |
 European Union* | 1.5 | 10.1** | 120.0 |
 France | 1.7 | 9.3 | 191.2 |
 Germany | 3 | 6.5 | 159.4 |
 India | 6.9 | n/a | 17.2*** |
 Indonesia | 6.5 | 6.6 | 26.5 |
 Italy | 0.4 | 8.4 | 115.1 |
 Japan | -0.7 | 4.6 | 52 |
 Mexico | 3.9 | 5.2 | 26.1 |
 Russia | 4.3 | 6.6 | 27.7 |
 Saudi Arabia | 6.8 | n/a | n/a |
 South Africa | 3.3 | 24.9 | 29.4 |
 South Korea | 3.6 | 3.4 | 34.9 |
 Turkey | 8.5 | 9.8 | 42.7 |
 UK | 0.9 | 8.1 | 421.9 |
 US | 1.7 | 9.0 | 98.2 |
Source: Principal Global Indicators | |||
| * Euro area only, ** 2010 figs, *** Q3 2011.Note:External debt refers to debt owed to creditors outside the country. Countries with active financial sectors, such as the UK, tend to have large amounts of external debt. | |||
