IMF seeks US$600b more in funds; G20 to discuss

WASHINGTON, Jan 19 — The International Monetary Fund is seeking to boost its war chest by US$600 billion (RM1.8 trillion) to help countries reeling from the euro zone debt crisis, but some nations insist Europe must first do more to support its ailing members, international financial sources said yesterday.
Group of 20 officials will discuss increasing IMF resources at a meeting in Mexico City today and tomorrow, the first under Mexico’s 2012 presidency of the group of developed and emerging economies.
The IMF said it will need US$500 billion to lend to member countries in need and IMF sources who were present at an IMF board meeting on the issue on Tuesday told Reuters that another US$100 billion is needed as a “protection buffer.”
The IMF also estimated there would be a US$1 trillion global financing gap over the next two years if global economic conditions worsened considerably, the sources added.
On foreign exchange markets, the reports of plans for increased IMF lending capacity helped boost the euro.
Euro zone nations have already promised to inject an extra €150 billion (RM600 billion) into the IMF, which is included in the total estimate. G20 officials in Mexico for the meeting of deputy finance ministers and central bank officials said there was still resistance in some quarters to increase funding.
“Many countries want the Europeans to move ahead with tougher and clearer measures, which at this moment translates to more resources to its stability fund,” said a senior Brazilian government source attending the meeting.
Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said it was not clear European governments had done everything necessary to make sure they could fund themselves at sustainable interest rates over the next few years.
“If it makes sense to enhance the resources of the IMF the principal focus, it would seem, should be on dealing with fallout of the European crisis for innocent bystanders,” he told a news briefing in Ottawa.
Another source connected to the process said that as well as Canada, the United States, Japan and Korea were pressing for discussions first about Europe’s contribution to the crisis and for it to agree on additional measures. European nations were arguing that they have done enough and were calling for more IMF resources now.
“If, with the parallel discussion, we can achieve extra measures from the Europeans and afterwards agree on promises of additional resources for the IMF from non-European countries in the G20, I think it would be a good result,” the source said.
The IMF currently has a lending capacity of about US$380 billion and estimates demand could be about US$ 1 trillion in the medium-term.
“Based on staff’s estimate of global potential financing needs of about US$1 trillion in the coming years, the fund would aim to raise up to US$500 billion in additional lending resources. This total includes the recent European commitment of about US$200 billion in increased fund resources,” an IMF spokesman said.
“At this preliminary stage, we are exploring options on funding and will have no further comment until the necessary consultations,” he added.
Emerging market countries such as China and Brazil have said they are willing to contribute new resources to the Washington-based global lender in exchange for greater voting power. Emerging market powers have repeatedly argued in recent times that their power at the IMF should be increased to reflect their growing clout in the world economy.
Getting more resources from advanced economies, such as the United States, is going to be difficult, if not impossible. With a strained budget at home, some US congressional Republicans have threatened to yank US$100 billion in US money to the IMF if the funds are used to bail out more euro zone countries.
The White House is unlikely to want to take on the issue as US President Barack Obama seeks re-election this year.
The IMF’s managing director, Christine Lagarde, said on Tuesday she met with the IMF board to assess whether the global lender needs additional funds to respond effectively to the euro zone crisis. She said IMF management would explore options for increasing the fund’s firepower.
The IMF has warned it will cut global growth projections for 2012 when it updates its forecast on January 24. Weakening global growth prospects raise fears that more countries will need to be rescued by the IMF, especially if capital markets freeze up completely.
The World Bank warned in its annual growth outlook late on Tuesday that Europe appears to already be in recession and developing countries should brace for a slowdown in their economies, especially Brazil and India, and to a lesser extent Russia, South Africa and Turkey.
With credit downgrades in nine euro zone countries by Standard & Poor’s last week, including France, and uncertainty over Greek debt talks that risk pushing the country into default, the IMF board has urged euro zone leaders to take steps to contain the crisis.
The board called for policies that would address the European crisis and for euro zone policymakers to make sure there is enough money available to tackle the bloc’s debt problems effectively. — Reuters