'It is important to create an entirely new and global supervision of finance by the IMF,' Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Der Spiegel magazine due to be published on Monday.
'The IMF is the only instrument established with a wide area of responsibility and high authority over the markets'. An international group of finance leaders meeting in Washington said they had made progress in implementing an already agreed tightening of the rules.
==============
US and allies united: Bush
WASHINGTON - US PRESIDENT George W. Bush said on Saturday the world's richest economies were united on a 'serious global response' to the financial meltdown, as the eurozone countries prepared for a crisis summit.
'We will stand together in addressing this threat to our prosperity. We will do what it takes to resolve this crisis. And the world's economy will emerge stronger as a result,' he said.
Top Chinese official blames rich nations
WASHINGTON - A TOP Chinese official criticised rich nations for the problems in the global financial system on Saturday and called on them to 'shoulder the responsibility' of preventing more fallout.
Mr Yi Gang, number two in China's central bank, also urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to increase its surveillance of developed nations where he said 'weak financial policy discipline' was the cause of problems.
... more
Kenya finance minister blames rich nations
WASHINGTON - KENYA'S finance minister hit out at rich countries at the source of the financial crisis on Saturday, reflecting anger about the consequences on the economies of developing nations.
'Who will compensate the innocent countries who are going to ... suffer from this debacle?' Mr John Michuki told reporters at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington.
... more
But Mr Bush unveiled no new proposals after meeting with finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries and the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank for about 40 minutes.
'All of us recognise that this is a serious global crisis and therefore requires a serious global response for the good of our people,' the US president said.
The ministers, from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, stood sombrely behind Mr Bush, as he warned against any 'beggar-thy-neighbour' policies like those blamed for deepening the Great Depression of the 1930s.
And he said the G7 would work with an enlarged forum known as the Group of 20 that includes other major economies like China, India and Russia, also holding crisis talks in Washington on Saturday.
A top Chinese central banker criticised rich nations for the problems in the global financial system, and called on the IMF to improve its monitoring of developed nations which had 'weak financial policy discipline'.
'The major reserve issuing countries should shoulder the responsibility for preventing further spillovers and minimising shocks to other countries,' Mr Yi Gang, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, told an IMF meeting.
The global firestorm has led to historic plunges on markets around the world from London to Tokyo.
And French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met on Saturday in France, putting on a show of unity the day before a Paris summit of the leaders of the 15 eurozone economies as well as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The heads of the eurozone's two biggest economies are seeking a joint response to the crisis, which may include a British-style plan of partial bank nationalisation.
'We are analysing the crisis together. Germany and France have perfectly identical views on the consequences to take from that for the short, medium and long term,' Mr Sarkozy said.
Dr Merkel agreed Paris and Berlin were 'on the same path as regards putting in place a concerted and coherent reaction for the eurozone' but noted that within this there was 'naturally room for manoeuvre for each member state'. The German government is putting the finishing touches to a rescue plan that is expected to provide hundreds of billions of euros to shore up banks.
As the IMF and World Bank meetings opened in Washington, Germany urged an overhaul of how the world's financial system is supervised.
'It is important to create an entirely new and global supervision of finance by the IMF,' Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Der Spiegel magazine due to be published on Monday.
'The IMF is the only instrument established with a wide area of responsibility and high authority over the markets'. An international group of finance leaders meeting in Washington said they had made progress in implementing an already agreed tightening of the rules.
Bank of Italy governor Mario Draghi, who heads the Financial Stability Forum (FSF), said the aim is 'to reconstruct the financial system to be immune to the root causes of the crisis ... we must have less debt and more capital'. Iceland, which now stands on the verge of bankruptcy, meanwhile made progress in resolving a clash with Britain over funds frozen in the collapsed online bank Icesave.
Some 300,000 private British savers reportedly have over four billion pounds (S$10 billion) locked in Icesave, an online British subsidiary of Iceland's nationalised Landsbanki.
The Netherlands also reached a deal with Iceland to rescue more than 120,000 Dutch clients with some 1.6 billion euros (S$3.2 billion) in the bank.
After the G7 talks on Friday, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced the US government was ready to invest directly in banks for the first time since the 1930s depression.
Britain took a similar step on Wednesday, saying it would guarantee interbank lending and offered to take stakes in some of the country's biggest banks in a program of partial nationalisation. -- AFP
'The IMF is the only instrument established with a wide area of responsibility and high authority over the markets'. An international group of finance leaders meeting in Washington said they had made progress in implementing an already agreed tightening of the rules.
==============
US and allies united: Bush
WASHINGTON - US PRESIDENT George W. Bush said on Saturday the world's richest economies were united on a 'serious global response' to the financial meltdown, as the eurozone countries prepared for a crisis summit.
'We will stand together in addressing this threat to our prosperity. We will do what it takes to resolve this crisis. And the world's economy will emerge stronger as a result,' he said.
Top Chinese official blames rich nations
WASHINGTON - A TOP Chinese official criticised rich nations for the problems in the global financial system on Saturday and called on them to 'shoulder the responsibility' of preventing more fallout.
Mr Yi Gang, number two in China's central bank, also urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to increase its surveillance of developed nations where he said 'weak financial policy discipline' was the cause of problems.
... more
Kenya finance minister blames rich nations
WASHINGTON - KENYA'S finance minister hit out at rich countries at the source of the financial crisis on Saturday, reflecting anger about the consequences on the economies of developing nations.
'Who will compensate the innocent countries who are going to ... suffer from this debacle?' Mr John Michuki told reporters at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington.
... more
But Mr Bush unveiled no new proposals after meeting with finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries and the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank for about 40 minutes.
'All of us recognise that this is a serious global crisis and therefore requires a serious global response for the good of our people,' the US president said.
The ministers, from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, stood sombrely behind Mr Bush, as he warned against any 'beggar-thy-neighbour' policies like those blamed for deepening the Great Depression of the 1930s.
And he said the G7 would work with an enlarged forum known as the Group of 20 that includes other major economies like China, India and Russia, also holding crisis talks in Washington on Saturday.
A top Chinese central banker criticised rich nations for the problems in the global financial system, and called on the IMF to improve its monitoring of developed nations which had 'weak financial policy discipline'.
'The major reserve issuing countries should shoulder the responsibility for preventing further spillovers and minimising shocks to other countries,' Mr Yi Gang, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, told an IMF meeting.
The global firestorm has led to historic plunges on markets around the world from London to Tokyo.
And French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met on Saturday in France, putting on a show of unity the day before a Paris summit of the leaders of the 15 eurozone economies as well as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The heads of the eurozone's two biggest economies are seeking a joint response to the crisis, which may include a British-style plan of partial bank nationalisation.
'We are analysing the crisis together. Germany and France have perfectly identical views on the consequences to take from that for the short, medium and long term,' Mr Sarkozy said.
Dr Merkel agreed Paris and Berlin were 'on the same path as regards putting in place a concerted and coherent reaction for the eurozone' but noted that within this there was 'naturally room for manoeuvre for each member state'. The German government is putting the finishing touches to a rescue plan that is expected to provide hundreds of billions of euros to shore up banks.
As the IMF and World Bank meetings opened in Washington, Germany urged an overhaul of how the world's financial system is supervised.
'It is important to create an entirely new and global supervision of finance by the IMF,' Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Der Spiegel magazine due to be published on Monday.
'The IMF is the only instrument established with a wide area of responsibility and high authority over the markets'. An international group of finance leaders meeting in Washington said they had made progress in implementing an already agreed tightening of the rules.
Bank of Italy governor Mario Draghi, who heads the Financial Stability Forum (FSF), said the aim is 'to reconstruct the financial system to be immune to the root causes of the crisis ... we must have less debt and more capital'. Iceland, which now stands on the verge of bankruptcy, meanwhile made progress in resolving a clash with Britain over funds frozen in the collapsed online bank Icesave.
Some 300,000 private British savers reportedly have over four billion pounds (S$10 billion) locked in Icesave, an online British subsidiary of Iceland's nationalised Landsbanki.
The Netherlands also reached a deal with Iceland to rescue more than 120,000 Dutch clients with some 1.6 billion euros (S$3.2 billion) in the bank.
After the G7 talks on Friday, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced the US government was ready to invest directly in banks for the first time since the 1930s depression.
Britain took a similar step on Wednesday, saying it would guarantee interbank lending and offered to take stakes in some of the country's biggest banks in a program of partial nationalisation. -- AFP
