London - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Saturday he would like to set up a multibillion-pound fund to help out small businesses amid the current financial crisis.

Speaking as he left for a summit of European Union G8 leaders in France, Brown said he would be proposing a 12-billion-pound (21- billion-dollar) fund to his counterparts from Germany, France and Italy in Paris.

Brown said he was proposing the fund "so that small businesses in our country and the rest of Europe can get money immediately so that they can continue to employ staff and continue to provide services."

Brown said that he would push for more transparency on the financial markets.

"I will be proposing to the leaders I meet in Paris today that we work together to clean up the system, both in America and Europe where there have been problems, that we call a timetable for international meetings to agree the changes that will open up those areas which have been far too often closed and not transparent."

The Paris meeting is hosted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and is attended by Brown, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (dpa)