Washington - The world's 20 top economies reached a deal Saturday to better regulate global financial markets and take steps to halt a global economic slide.

Negotiators agreed on a final declaration Saturday morning during the first-ever summit of the Group of 20 (G20) nations in Washington, Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa has learned.

Leaders will sign off on the agreement later Saturday, promising to close all gaps in financial regulation. That includes regulating hedge funds and boosting transparency of some of the complicated mortgage-related securities created by financial firms, which have been blamed for sparking the current financial crisis.

Washington - Negotiators for the world's top 20 econ

Washington - The world's 20 top economies launched on Saturday an historic summit aimed at stabilizing the world financial system and halting a global economic slide.

Greeting world leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) to the Washington summit, US President George W Bush said he was pleased with the early results after leaders held a working dinner at the White House Friday night.

But Bush, who is hosting the summit, again warned nations against restricting free markets and trade as a result of the financial crisis.

Washington - The major players on the world economic stage were united like they had never been before on the need for joint action to prevent future crises, as the Group of 20 (G20) gathered at the White House for an urgently convened summit aimed at staving off the global financial crisis.

But as they sat down to dinner Friday night with their host, outgoing US President George W Bush, there was no overriding consensus among the 20 developed and emerging economies on the degree to which the recent wild swings of the financial markets could be tamed, participants at the dinner said.

Tokyo  - Japan agreed to provide 2 billion dollars to launch a fund with the World Bank to help recapitalize struggling financial institutions, especially in developing nations.

The World Bank was expected to contribute 1 billion dollars to the fund, according to a statement released Friday at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Washington.

The leaders of 20 developed and emerging economies gathered in Washington for a two-day summit to discuss ways to address the global financial crisis.

New Delhi/Washington  - India expressed hope that leaders at the G20 summit would agree on an economic stimulus package to arrest recessionary tendencies and restore normalcy in major economies, news reports said Saturday.

Actions should be taken to mitigate the effects of a global economic downturn, and protectionist policies should be avoided as a solution, India's Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia was quoted as saying in Washington by IANS and PTI news agencies.