IMF Doubles Its Lending Firepower

The IMF says it has received firm commitments of more than $430bn. The money is to help economies in trouble and includes just under �10bn ($15bn) from the UK in loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is part of a global effort to bolster the fund's lending capacity, which IMF managing director Christine Lagarde wanted to increase by $400bn. The money doubles the fund's firepower which threatened to become overwhelmed by the eurozone crisis. Australia will contribute $7bn, Singapore $4bn and the Republic of Korea $15bn. The IMF's managing director, Christine Lagarde, said that some countries including Russia, India, China and Brazil had made private pledges but did not want to go public until they had discussed the pledges back home. In a joint statement following the meeting in Washington, the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) and the G20 finance ministers and Central Bank governors said: "There are firm commitments to increase resources made available to the IMF by over $400bn in addition to the quota increase under the 2010 reform." "These resources will be available for the whole membership of the IMF, and not earmarked for any particular region." The eurozone as a whole is contributing $200bn of the total and Japan is another major supplier of funds and is lending $60bn.