UNITED NATIONS - While expressing deep concern at the continuing financial crisis, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged donor countries to honour their commitments to helping the world's poorest people despite difficulties resulting from the economic downturn. "As secretary-general, I am very much concerned about the impact which this crisis may impose on the world's governments, particularly developed countries, donor countries, whose capacity may be weakened in addressing the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), climate change and global food crisis," Ban told reporters at his first monthly press conference at the UN Headquarters. Echoing a similar concern raised by World Bank President Robert Zoellick, Ban stressed that leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized countries had committed to providing annually 50 billion U.S. dollars for the purpose of helping developing countries in the 2005 Gleneagles summit. "Now because of all this changing prices, it has gone up to at least 62 billion dollars now," Ban said. "First of all, G8 countries should implement their commitment." "While addressing financing crisis, they should not lose sight and they should keep in mind to put forefront the challenges of the most vulnerable countries, the poorest countries in the world," he said. The UN chief said that the world's poorest people could count on the United Nations and its member states to support them, despite the current crisis engulfing financial markets. "Everyone has felt the earthquake on Wall Street. But it has not shaken our resolve," Ban said. "Banks may be failing. But the world's bottom billion can bank on us." The secretary-general said he was heartened that world leaders pledged during two high-level meetings at the UN last month to give 16 billion U.S. dollars towards African development needs and the anti-poverty targets known as MDGs. "The generosity of these commitments is most encouraging, given the economic climate. It means the world is not forgetting the needs of the world's poorest people, notwithstanding the prospect of harder times," he said. "It means that, for all the obstacles, we have a good chance of meeting our Millennium Development Goals by 2015. I urge world leaders to honor these pledges," he noted.