At the conclusion of their three-day meeting in Ottawa on Thursday, the ministers in a joint statement noted "international financial markets raise profound concerns and emphasise the need for global cooperation to preserve the stability of the international economic and financial system."

They proposed setting up of "an internationally agreed emergency standstill mechanism that would allow a suspension of payments during times of crisis without triggering default, taking due account of the issue of equitable burden-sharing." They suggested the formation of a "mechanism for global financial regulation and stability to provide a coherent and coordinated framework, incorporating the IMF and other relevant regional or international bodies."

Finance minister Yashwant Sinha said "the chancesfor 1999 of any significant improvement (in the global economy) appears bleak." Addressing the meet, he said, "the prospects of recovery and growth, particularly for the developing countries, does not appear to be very bright in the next several months."

Talking about the effect of the global economic crisis on India, Sinha said, "There was a modest impact and we have been able to withstand the same through prudent and timely policy of actions."

He added, "There appears to be an urgent need to develop a theoretical underpinning as to what should be the new design of the IMF programmes in the changed circumstances where capital flow volatility is the major concern."

Commonwealth secretary-general Emeka Anyaoku noted, "In just over a year, the contagion has spread the east-Asian financial crisis like wildfire to other emerging markets across continents, cutting growth and threatening recession in two-fifths of the world economy."

Canadian finance minister Paul Martin said "the severe financial turmoilthat has hit Asia, and more recently Russia, is having enormous ramifications. The social fabric of those economies is being threatened. Poverty rates are soaring. In the most affected economies, currencies have plummeted, output has declined and inflation and unemployment have raced up."

British chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brow left no doubt of the severity of the crisis. "What began last year as a local and regional crisis centered in a handful of Asian countries, with its effects most sharply felt in Asia, has spread from Asia to Europe and North and South America, becoming what is now a global problem affecting us all," he said.