Bush plea for unity amid crisis

US President George W Bush has urged the world's wealthiest industrial nations to avoid any unilateral action in the current global economic crisis.

Speaking at the White House, he said countries must take co-ordinated action to tackle the "serious global crisis".

"We must ensure the actions of one country do not contradict or undermine the actions of another," he said.

He spoke after crisis talks with Group of Seven chiefs and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington.

"All of us recognise that this is a serious global crisis and therefore requires a serious global response," Mr Bush said, announcing no new policies.

"We will stand together together and address this threat to our prosperity," he added.

The US president spoke after talks with Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, as well as IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and World Bank President Robert Zoellick.

Amid widespread fears of a global recession, Asian, European and US markets continued to tumble on Friday despite rate cuts and cash injections by central banks.

Late on Friday, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced the US would invest directly in banks for the first time since the 1930s, following a similar UK move.

The G7 finance ministers had earlier announced a five-point plan in Washington to protect major financial institutions.

They said they would free up the flow of credit, support efforts by banks to raise money, and revive the mortgage market.

The BBC's economic correspondent in Washington, Andrew Walker, says the G7 communique was short on detail, reflecting different views among the finance ministers.

He says a British plan to guarantee borrowing between banks is not explicitly contained in the communique, but is at least implied as an option.

The G7 statement also kept open the possibility of further cuts in interest rates and taxes.

Leaders of the eurozone countries are meanwhile scheduled to meet in Paris on Sunday.