Darling calls for financial reforms

He will call for the creation of an economic "early warning system" to warn of future turmoil in the world's markets.

In a speech in Washington before the International Monetary Fund and World Bank's spring meetings, Mr Darling will say the institutions, set up in the aftermath of the Second World War, "need to adapt to today's problems".

The spring meetings come at what Mr Darling describes as a "critical time," and follow the IMF's warnings of a slowdown in UK growth and a "mild recession" in the US.

The Chancellor will call for changes to the IMF's structure to take into account the knock-on effects of trouble in one market on others around the world.

The current economic turbulence following the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market in the US has shown how "events in one country can impact on others around the world".

Mr Darling will also call for a beefed-up role for ministers in setting the IMF's priorities and holding the Fund to account.

He will say: "There are two key lessons that can be drawn from the current crisis. First, that national economies are intimately linked and that events in one country can impact on others around the world. Second that there is a need for national policy makers to take action in response to the risks that have been identified.

"That is why the IMF needs to work with the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) to develop an early warning system. A system that would identify the risks to macroeconomic stability."

A Treasury official said the early warning system would combine the IMF's analytical expertise with the FSF's experience of policy and markets.