San Pedro Sula, Honduras  - The nations of Central America want to institute a common currency and a shared credit fund to combat the global financial crisis, the region's leaders said at a meeting in Honduras on Friday.

The presidents and vice presidents of the region's seven countries and the Dominican Republic also agreed to a common passport for their citizens at the meeting of the Central American Integration Summit (SICA). The leaders gave no time table for instituting the proposals.

Currently El Salvador and Panama use the US dollar as their currency, while Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras have their own currencies. (dpa)