Gordon Brown has warned that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) might not have enough money to halt the spread of financial "contagion" through the world's economies.
Embarking on a diplomatic offensive to secure hundreds of billions of dollars in additional financial support for the IMF, the Prime Minister called for immediate action.
His intervention came after Hungary and Ukraine accepted IMF assistance to prop up their battered economies as the financial crisis has torn through Eastern Europe.
He said the 250 billion dollar fund currently available to the IMF to lend to financially stricken states "may not be enough".
"It is becoming increasingly clear to me that we cannot delay and that we now need substantial additional resources in addition to the 250 billion dollars the IMF already has available," he said.
Aides later refused to set a figure but said the required cash was likely to run into hundreds of billions.
The premier did not rule out a British contribution to the enhanced fund, but made clear he believed the bulk of any additional money should come from China and the oil rich states of the Gulf. "Yes, we will play our part, but the biggest part can be played by countries that have got the biggest surpluses," he said.
Mr Brown, who was in Paris holding talks with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, said he would be raising the issue during a four-day trip to the Gulf starting on Saturday. He is due to visit the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which have all seen multi-billion dollar boosts to their income from oil due to the recent price spike.
He is also planning to speak by phone with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, whose country is sitting on a large capital reserve after a decade of expanding exports of consumer goods to the West.
"I believe it is possible in a very short period of time to create an international fund that is strong enough to help withstand the difficulties," Mr Brown said. "It is in every nation's interest and in the interests of hard-working families in our country and every country that financial contagion does not spread."
