French Finance Minister Herve Gaymard said Wednesday it is "absolutely indispensable" for the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised countries to consider debt relief for tsunami-stricken Asian countries.

Gaymard is attending a meeting of the Paris Club of donor countries convened to discuss a freeze on debt repayments for tsunami-hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Seychelles.

"Considering the difficult circumstances of the three countries' economies, it seems to the G7 members, following Germany and France's initiative, that a moratorium is absolutely indispensable for the stricken countries to overcome these huge difficulties," Gaymard said.

The other tsunami-hit countries have "a lower level of indebtedness and do not want their credit rating to be downgraded on the international financial markets," he explained, citing particularly the case of Malaysia and Thailand.

The G7 finance ministers said on Friday that they agreed to give their support to the debt relief proposal.

The Paris Club's 19 members are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.