WASHINGTON: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Monday that US President George W. Bush hoped to have a meeting of Group of Eight rich country leaders on the financial crisis "in the next few weeks."

Speaking after talks at the White House, Berlusconi said through an interpreter that Bush "expressed the intention to have a meeting among the leaders within the G8 in the next few weeks."

"I absolutely agree with him, I think that everything which can be done for a coordinated action, just to pursue a common method, and behave in the same way ... is something which is positive," said Berlusconi.

But White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush "did not commit to a meeting or give a date" in the meeting but told Berlusconi he "would very much be open to a leaders'' meeting in the future."

The US president made no mention in his public remarks of calling a G8 leaders meeting on the international financial meltdown but stressed the need for a coordinated strategy to grapple with the crisis.

"These are tough times for our economies, yet we can be confident that we can work our way through these challenges, and America will continue to work closely with the other nations to coordinate our response to this global financial crisis," said the US president.

"America and Italy are working to stabilize global financial markets. People all over the world are understandably concerned about the global financial crisis, about how it will affect their families and their businesses," he said.

Bush noted action plans that emerged from weekend meetings in Washington of the Group of Seven rich countries and the Group of 20, which also includes major economies like China, India and Russia.

He also praised Europe''s eurozone countries for coming together at an unprecedented summit on Sunday to lay out a multi-pronged attack to combat the financial crisis.

"I welcome the bold and specific follow-up actions by European nations to pursue the G7 action plan," he said.