WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush said on Saturday after crisis talks with finance ministers from the G7 rich countries that all agreed the world financial meltdown required "a serious global response".

"All of us recognize that this is a serious global crisis and therefore requires a serious global response," Bush said in the White House Rose Garden after the roughly 40-minute meeting.

The talks came after G7 finance chiefs agreed on Friday to use "all available tools" to support major banks and prevent their failure as they sought to dampen a financial firestorm threatening more mayhem.

The plan followed another day of massive falls on the markets as investors rushed to the exits, putting G7 officials under intense pressure to come up with a convincing accord.