Washington - As the world's richest nations debate how to bring a catastrophic financial crisis under control, international groups are warning that its reach now goes far beyond the developed world.

Poor countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, which are already dealing with a surge in food and energy prices, are now finding it harder to sell goods abroad and encourage investment in their own economies.

Amsterdam - The Netherlands late Thursday made available another 20 billion euros to shore up the liquidity of banks embattled by the global financial crisis, Finance Minister Wouter Bos said.

Dutch central bank chief Nout Wellink said the funds would be made available for all financial firms that need it, including insurance groups.

Washington - The US government is weighing the possibility of taking ownership stakes in banks to bolster its effort to restore confidence in financial markets, the White House confirmed Thursday.

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has been granted the authority to buy stakes in the banks as part of the Bush administration's broad policy to rescue the financial sector, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

"It would include an equity stake," Perino said, before adding "that is a part of the range of authorities that they were given."

Bonn, Germany - Germany's financial market regulator closed down the German branch of Icelandic bank Kaupthing on Thursday, hours after Iceland's largest bank group was put under state control.

Bonn-based federal agency BaFin said Kaupthing was barred from selling assets, making payments or accepting any payments other than settlement of debts.

BaFin said it imposed the moratorium in order to secure assets amid fears the bank would not meet claims by creditors in Germany.

London - British savers with too much cash to hide under the mattress have been buying up household safes to protect their wealth from the global market turmoil, the Times newspaper said Thursday.

One company said that sales had increased by a quarter, while another said that its staff had received calls from panicking investors who now wanted to keep their savings locked away at home.

Paris - The city of Paris has taken a page from the book of Nobel Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus and will be providing microcredits for individuals not qualified to hold traditional credit cards, Paris City Hall said on Thursday on its web site.

Loans of 300 to 3,000 euros (413 to 4,130 dollars) - and up to 5,000 euros in exceptional cases - will be provided for a period of from 6 to 36 months, at a 4 per cent interest rate.

The money is to be used to finance such existential necessities as a driving licence, a job training programme, or a divorce or funeral.

"We will not finance the purchase of a new plasma television," said the director of a bank working with the city on the program.