World leaders pledged to shore up global growth, avoid protectionism and move quickly on regulatory reform at the conclusion in Washington at the weekend of the Group of 20 summit to address the economic crisis.

Presenting a united front, leaders from both developed and developing nations promised to take “whatever further actions are necessary to stabilise the financial system” and vowed to “use fiscal measures to stimulate domestic demand to rapid effect, as appropriate”. People at the talks said the statement would give fresh momentum to national stimulus packages.

World leaders said they would require regulators to set up “colleges of supervisors” to monitor global banks and said ministers would report back by March 31 on issues such as strengthening of the credit derivatives markets and review of financial sector pay schemes, with further reforms to follow.

Both US and non-US officials said the outcome would depend on what the incoming Obama administration – which takes office on January 20 – decided to do. A senior Bush administration official said the Bush team had held “extensive consultations” with the Obama team ahead of the summit.

The industrialised economies agreed to open up membership of key standards-setting bodies, including the Financial Stability Forum, to top emerging economies such as China and India, and to increase their influence at the International Monetary Fund.

The G20 nations will meet again by next April – a sign that this body, and not the narrower Group of Seven industrialised nations, will play the leading role during the crisis and probably beyond.

Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, told the FT the G20 recognised it faced “a global crisis that is going to need a global response”. Earlier, he warned the world leaders that a drying up of credit could lead to a “huge drop in trade”.

The G20 promised not to adopt any new protectionist measures and pledged a fresh effort to revive the Doha round of trade talks, though actual new trade offers have not yet materialised.

World leaders also pledged to ensure that developing nations caught up in the crisis have access to dollar finance. They said they would review the resources available to the IMF and other institutions.

The IMF, meanwhile, reached preliminary agreement on a $7.6bn bail-out for Pakistan, while Ecuador said it was delaying payment on its debt, raising fear that it could default.

European leaders claimed the regulatory action plan represented a broadly European agenda, while the US emphasised the summit’s commitment to pro-market principles.

“We are at a turning point,” said José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission. President George W. Bush said the meeting was an “important first step” but added that there was more work to be done and “a meeting is not going to solve the world’s problems”.

The continuing threat to the global economy was highlighted on Sunday by Jeffrey Joerres, chairman and chief executive of Manpower, the global recruitment company. He said it expected mass lay-offs in western economies in December.

Additional reporting by Daniel Dombey, Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Alan Beattie and Joe Leahy