ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Leaders of rich and developing countries pledged at their last summit to even out the glaring imbalances that are weighing on the world economy. Their finance officials now face the daunting task of finding common ground on just how to do that.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 countries meeting in Scotland on Friday and Saturday plan to hammer out a peer review process aimed at closing damaging trade, consumption and budget gaps — but long-standing disagreements suggest that progress will be torturously slow.