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The Prime Minister has spoken of the decisive moment being faced by the world economy as nations seek to work together to tackle the credit crunch and the global downturn.

Speaking ahead of today’s special EU Council and a global financial summit in Washington next week, Mr Brown said that the decisions being taken by governments “will affect our world for a decade or more to come”.

The PM reiterated his call for reform of international financial markets, an enhanced support facility for economies in distress and progress to be made on a world free trade agreement.

The PM said:

“The decisions that we make now will affect our world for a decade or more to come. And people now recognise that this is a global crisis that requires a global solution. That is the reason why I have been speaking to other world leaders to build agreement on what we can do together to solve the problems, and that is why this is not a time for business as usual.

“If we are to solve the economic crisis and get our economies moving, then we need as a world community to take action together on a number of different fronts.”

Mr Brown also said that it was important for lenders to pass on interest rate cuts to mortgage borrowers and small businesses after the Bank of England cut interest rates yesterday by 1.5 percentage points to a 53-year low of three percent.

The PM will travel to Brussels today for a special EU Council on the financial crisis.

Statement by the President on Job Report Numbers

Today, we received monthly job report numbers that reflect the difficult challenges confronting our economy. We are in the midst of a global financial crisis, and tight credit markets have made it harder for businesses to borrow the money they need to meet their payrolls, grow, and create new jobs.

The Federal government has taken aggressive and decisive measures to address this situation. It will take time for these measures to have their full impact on an economy in which many Americans are struggling. But in recent days, we have seen some encouraging signs. The market for lending between banks has loosened considerably, and the Federal Reserve’s efforts to stabilize the commercial paper market have provided businesses with an urgently needed source of financing for day-to-day operations.

In the weeks ahead, my Administration will continue working to return our economy to the path of prosperity and growth. I will continue urging Members of Congress to approve free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, and I look forward to hosting an international financial summit with leaders of both developed and developing nations on November 15.

I understand that Americans remain deeply concerned about the challenges facing our economy, but our economy has overcome great challenges before, and we can be confident that it will do so again.