White House: Summit yields broad agreement

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Leaders at the global economic summit in Washington agreed Saturday on a general framework for dealing with the global financial crisis, the White House said.

Bush administration officials said understanding was achieved in five critical areas, The Hill reported. Those included the cause of the crisis, steps to resolve it, stimulating economic growth, reforming international economic institutions and committing to free markets.

"Since the outbreak of this crisis, the world's leading nations have coordinated actions more closely than ever before," a White House statement said. "Thanks in large part to these decisive measures, once frozen global credit markets are beginning to thaw and businesses around the world are gaining access to essential short-term financing."

The gathering -- known as the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy -- brought together members of the G20 including new economic powers like China and India and developing countries like Brazil.

"We must use the crisis as an opportunity to correct things that were wrong before the crisis and strengthen multilateral bodies, because in a globalized world we need serious and representative forums to take global decisions," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told The Washington Post.