World finance leaders called on the IMF on Saturday to play a bigger role in supervising the global economy, keeping a close watch on currencies and rich countries' policies to prevent another financial crisis.

The International Monetary Fund's 187 member countries called for "evenhanded surveillance" and said uncovering vulnerabilities in advanced economies was a priority, potentially a major shift for the Fund, which has traditionally tread softly on giving advice to its biggest shareholders.

The United States, which has been pressing China aggressively to let its yuan rise faster, had urged nations to give the IMF more clout to referee currency disputes.

"Further action is urgently needed to reinforce the institution's role and effectiveness as a global body for macro-financial surveillance and policy collaboration," the IMF's steering committee said in a closing communiqué.

IMF members stopped short of formally endorsing in the communiqué an IMF proposal that would have established a multilateral surveillance program, an idea that drew mixed reviews from member countries.