QUITO (Dow Jones)-- Ecuador's President Rafael Correa on Monday called for the fledgling Union of South American Nations, or Unasur, to negotiate a regional monetary agreement and to move ahead with establishing a new multilateral lending agency.

Earlier Monday, Ecuador took over the rotating presidency of the group, which is made up of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Correa also took office Monday for a second term as president of the Andean nation.

In a speech, Correa said having an agreement to coordinate monetary policies of member countries would help avoid currency fluctuations, allowing currencies to move within limited margins. He also said it would help avoid competitive devaluations of currencies.

Various South American nations are also trying to organize a multilateral lending bank, known as the Bank of the South.

Correa urged a restructuring of the debt burdens of South American countries, including partial cancellation of debt.

He also pushed for the creation of an electronic regional payment system to achieve greater autonomy from other financial centers, and to boost trade.

Correa also said the Unasur should help create a regional arbitration-hearing process for business conflicts.

 -Dow Jones Newswires, emergingmarkets@dowjones.com