Amid financial crisis, World Bank chief urges 'new multilateralism'

Tuesday October 7, 2008, 5:56 am WASHINGTON (AFP) - World Bank president Robert Zoellick said Monday that the current financial turmoil highlighted the need for a "new multilateralism" to replace outdated structures. Describing the financial turmoil of this year as a "wake-up call," Zoellick said the world needed to look beyond resolving the current crisis to the underlying role of multilateral institutions. "We will need a new multilateral network for a new global economy," Zoellick said in a speech ahead of the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank this weekend in Washington. He also urged reform of the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Zoellick said the IMF's early warning system for the global economy should be strengthened, "focused on crisis prevention and not just crisis... [read full story]