WASHINGTON—U.S. President George W. Bush said today 20 world leaders gathered here had agreed on a set of principles aimed at stabilizing the global economy and preventing future financial meltdowns.

But the outgoing president stressed in a statement that today's historic meeting was the first in a series and he would now hand over the process to President-elect Barack Obama.

Emphasizing the need for a smooth transition, Bush wrapped up his statement at a historic downtown Washington conference centre by thanking journalists for covering his summit and ended with a simple, "Good-bye."

Today's meeting was historic because of the attendance of 20 nations, including developing countries which had been shut out of recent economic summits.

The leaders agreed to strengthen transparency and accountability by toughening disclosure requirements on international financial transactions, requiring "complete and accurate" disclosure by firms of their financial condition and aligning incentives throughout the nations to avoid any excessive risk-taking which could cause problems to cascade worldwide.

The leaders will strengthen the oversight of credit rating agencies and financial markets, toughen their financial market regulations to prevent market manipulation and fraud, more closely co-ordinate national laws and financial regulations and modernize the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to give more power to the developing nations at the table here.

He said the international financial institutions were still operating based on the economy of 1944, and their policies need to be updated for today's global economy.

That was a reference to the 1944 Bretton Woods conference which established both institutions.

Bush reiterated that he was a "free market person'' but not when he is told his country could have been entering a depression deeper than the Great Depression.

He also said the leaders found consensus on trade barriers, agreeing that they would resist the urge to build economic walls and retreat into protectionism.

"It makes sense to come out of here with a firm action plan, which we have, and it also makes sense to say to people that there is more work to be done, and there will be more meetings," Bush said.

One meeting, he said, cannot turn the global economy around.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will speak to the Canadian media later this afternoon.