PARIS, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - The financial crisis has brought the world to an extraordinary level of uncertainty and governments must respond with equally unprecedented measures, the European Central Bank president said Thursday

'Nothing in the past resembles what we are currently seeing,' Jean-Claude Trichet told France 24 news channel.

'We are in the presence of events that we have not been seen since since World War II.'

This is 'a period of absolutely exceptional uncertainty' that 'calls for responses that match the events' from both the public and private sector, he said.