Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel repeated Saturday her call for improved regulation of the financial markets, just days ahead of the Group of 20 (G20) summit of leading economies in London.

Speaking at a political gathering of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) the chancellor blamed "market excesses" for the current crisis.

"The world is standing at a crossroad," Merkel said, adding, "we can't afford such crises every ten years."

Ahead of the G20 summit on April 2, Merkel said, "we need a global financial market constitution as has not existed before, so that we can finally draw lessons from this disaster."

This included the simple realization that "you can't spend more than you have or can earn," the chancellor said, arguing that economic growth had to be sustainable, and not financed by loans.

Without specifically referring to the US, Merkel said it could not be correct to take ever greater risks, then plunge the world into huge problems.

During a video conference with US President Barack Obama on Friday, the two leaders had papered over a rift between European demands to prioritize financial regulation and a US focus on economic stimuli to bring the world's economies back on track.

Merkel also defended the government's decision to bail out ailing banks, if necessary by forcibly expropriating banks such as Hypo Real Estate, during the party political gathering of Berlin's CDU.

"The state must intervene when the self-healing ability of the market no longer works," the chancellor said. (dpa)