World leaders call for action on financial crisis
UN: World leaders called for international action to combat the
global financial crisis, urging cooperation even as the U.S. pressed
ahead with unilateral action to stem a credit crunch that has engulfed
global markets.
The focus on the dismal economic situation in the United States at
the annual U.N. General Assembly ministerial meeting reflected how what
began as a mortgage market meltdown in the U.S. has grown to overshadow
other issues such as the threat of terrorism.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for the wholesale reform of
the global financial system, urging major economic powers to meet before
the end of the year to examine the lessons of the crisis.
"Let us rebuild capitalism in which credit agencies are controlled
and punished when necessary, where transparency ... replaces
opaqueness," Sarkozy said at Tuesday's meeting. "We can do this on one
condition, that we all work together in our globalized world."
Although Sarkozy and other leaders insisted on this global approach,
President Bush - in his last speech before the General Assembly -
assured officials his Government was aggressively working to contain the
credit meltdown some fear will undercut development and poverty-fighting
efforts.
The Bush administration is working with Congress to come to quick
agreement on a $700 billion bailout bill, in addition to other recent
actions he called "bold steps" aimed at stabilizing markets and keeping
credit flowing. Bush said he realizes that other nations are watching
how the U.S. deals with the financial crisis, and he expressed
confidence that Washington will act "in the urgent timeframe required"
to prevent broader problems.
He did not ask for any action by other countries.
Sarkozy, who currently heads the European Union - which includes some
of Washington's closest allies - insisted on a global solution.
"What is important is that no country however powerful it may be can
bring an effective answer to the financial crisis on its own, so it
would be logical to have it in the format of the G-8, the major eight
economies of the world," he said.
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former labour leader,
also called for a global solution to the financial crisis and lashed out
at speculators who he blamed for the "anguish of entire peoples." "The
global nature of this crisis means that the solutions we adopt must also
be global," Silva said.
Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said "economic
uncertainty has moved like a terrible tsunami around the globe, wiping
away gains, erasing progress."
"Just when we thought the worst had passed, the light at the end of
the tunnel became an oncoming train, hurtling forward with new shocks to
the global financial system," she said. AP |