WASHINGTON, Sept 22: The Group of Seven industrialised nations pledged on Monday to help the United States address a global credit crisis, saying they will “take whatever actions may be necessary.”

G7 finance officials welcomed recent US measures to counter the worst credit crisis since the 1930s Great Depression, including a US Treasury proposal to spend $700 billion to buy toxic mortgage-related assets from financial institutions unveiled over the weekend.

“We strongly welcome the extraordinary actions taken by the United States to enhance the stability of financial markets and address credit concerns, especially through its plan to implement a programme to remove illiquid assets that are destabilising financial institutions,” the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors said in a statement.

“We are ready to take whatever actions may be necessary, individually and collectively, to ensure the stability of the international financial system,” they said.

The G7 statement was issued following a conference call on Monday to discuss global financial markets by the finance officials of the United States, Japan, Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

“We pledge to enhance international cooperation to address the ongoing challenges in the global economy and world markets and maintain heightened close cooperation between finance ministries, central banks and regulators,” they said.

The G7 nations reaffirmed their commitment “to protect the integrity of the international financial system and facilitate liquid, smooth functioning markets, which are essential for supporting the health of the world economy.”

Details of the US Treasury proposal revealed over the weekend show the 700-billion-dollar US bailout of financial institutions includes foreign firms with operations in the United States.

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Sunday that he was “going to be pressing our colleagues around the world to design similar programmes for their banks and institutions when they are appropriate.”

President George W. Bush on Monday warned lawmakers wary of his $700bn debt bailout scheme that “failure to act would have broad consequences” for the battered US economy.

“Americans are watching to see if Democrats and Republicans, the Congress and the White House, can come together to solve this problem with the urgency it warrants,” Bush said in a statement.

“Indeed, the whole world is watching to see if we can act quickly to shore up our markets and prevent damage to our capital markets, businesses, our housing sector, and retirement accounts,” he said amid growing doubts about the rescue plan’s fate in the US Congress.—AFP