United Nations Radio

The global financial crisis is hitting the world economy hard.

According to UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, the concerted action taken by the finance ministers of key economies affected and by the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington this weekend, aimed at restoring confidence in financial markets are laudable.

But he says more coordinated approaches, including direct intervention by governments of the major economies are necessary to recapitalize the banking system and guarantee the savings of ordinary people.

In a statement on the financial crisis, the Secretary-General says he's deeply concerned about the impact of the crisis on the developing world, particularly on the poorest of the poor and the serious setback this is likely to have on efforts to meet major goals.

He says the initiatives by the World Bank and the IMF to provide new emergency liquidity provisioning to poor countries could help them counteract some of the consequences of this crisis.

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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