Leading international banks operating in central and eastern Europe have clubbed together to lobby governments, the European Union and the European Central Bank to extend their anti-crisis policies to ease the credit crunch in the region.

The group of nine is pressing for action to ease liquidity shortages and assist in reviving lending. They are urging Brussels and the ECB to extend support beyond the EU's new member states, such as Poland, to prospective members, such as Serbia, and even to Ukraine, a country with little prospect of joining the bloc soon.