United Nations Radio

Brazil has called for mechanisms for both prevention and control to provide total transparency to international finance.

Opening debate in the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly, President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva warns that a crisis of such magnitude will not be overcome with palliative measures.

He says only decisive action by governments, especially in countries at the heart of the financial crisis, will be able to control the disorder that has spread through the world's financial sector.

"The global nature of this crisis means that the solutions we adopt must also be global, and decided upon within legitimate, trusted multilateral fora, with no impositions. The United Nations, as the world's largest multilateral arena, must issue a call for a vigorous response to the weighty threats we all face."

President Lula says international economic institutions today have neither the authority nor the workable instruments they need to inhibit the anarchy of speculation.

And he called for a rebuilding of those institutions on entirely new foundations.

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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