German Chancellor Angela Merkel cautioned that any common European plan must "redirect the markets so that they serve the people, and not ruin them."
In other developments Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced his government would fund Australian banks in an effort to stabilize credit markets there.
Following the G7 summit in Washington, IMF chief Strauss-Kahn said, "Intensifying solvency concerns about a number of the largest US-based and European financial institutions have pushed the global financial system to the brink of systemic meltdown." He went on to note: "The first coordination between advanced countries and the rest of the world is now on track."
Whether the broad-based five-point consensus of the G7 member nations is enough to stabilize world financial markets and restore confidence on the heels of last week's devastating double-digit percentage losses remains to be seen as anxious financial leaders keep a wary eye on tracking fast moving developments as the new trading week approaches.
Also on Saturday, in a remarkable display of diplomatic contrition, a humbled US President George W. Bush appeared before an evening meeting of financial leaders just blocks from the White House to say the current global credit crisis began in the United States.
Experts largely agree that the financial meltdown is tied to toxic assets, or illiquid securities, many originated as subprime mortgages and other consumer credit instruments in the US, insured against default, leveraged to maximize returns regardless of loan outcome, and sold in bundles to banks and investors worldwide.
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