SANTIAGO, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- A senior UN official on Tuesday advocated a thorough reform of international financial institutions and their regulatory and supervision mechanisms.

    Alicia Barcena, executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, made the appeal at the Organization of American States (OAS) Lecture Series of the Americas. The lecture series is currently being held in Washington,D.C.

    The UN official from Mexico said that the ongoing global financial and economic crises had made reforms all the more necessary to guarantee global stability in the future.

    Barcena told the audience that the new global financial architecture must fulfill two requirements: one, to have a representative global leadership with political legitimacy and two, to have regional as well as global specialized agencies.

    The effects of the current financial crisis, according to Barcena, would not only be felt in the present but would also move the growth dynamic and the articulation of the economic, financial and commercial ties to a "new normality" in the future.

    This "new economic normality" would be characterized by a lower growth pattern, mainly for the developed economies, while the emerging economies would assume leading roles.

    There would also be a deceleration of commercial flows worldwide, Barcena added.

    According to Barcena, in the new economic normality, the state must again be a medium in charting development strategies for the country. Therefore, it must have enough tools and find its precise place to strike a balance between the market and the people.

    The lecture series was created by an OAS resolution in 2004. It aims at promoting the principles and democratic values of the countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis