New York  - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned Thursday that a financial crisis sweeping across advanced economies would actually have its greatest effect on the poor.

Ban, launching a one-day conference on development at UN headquarters in New York, said the financial turmoil was only adding to food and energy crises already affecting developing countries.

"The current financial crisis threatens the well-being of billions of people, none more so than the poorest of the poor," Ban told the UN General Assembly.

Nearly 100 world leaders were expected to attend a summit on the UN's Millenium Development Goals, a series of dramatic global targets aimed at slashing global poverty by 2015.

Ban called on governments to be "bold" and "generous" in their commitments during the meeting. (dpa)