Washington  - Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende will not attend a meeting of the leaders of the world's top economic powers after learning that his father had died, US President George W Bush said late Friday.

Balkenende learned of his father's death while he was travelling to Washington for the G20 summit and immediately returned to the Netherlands to be with his family.

The country will instead be represented by Finance Minister Jan Cornelis de Jager.

The government heads of the G20 gathered Friday night in the White House for a dinner hosted by Bush and are expected to sign off on an agreement to close gaps in the regulation of financial markets at an historic summit Saturday.

The move to monitor world financial markets comes in the wake of a round of stock market turmoil and a sharp downturn in the global economy. (dpa)