Saudi Arabia prepared to contribute more to IMF

Manama: Saudi Arabian central bank Governor Mohammad Al Jasser said the world's largest oil supplier will provide more money to the International Monetary Fund if its share of the lender's capital is increased.

"If the quotas of the IMF increase, of course, we will contribute our share," Al Jasser said in Manama, Bahrain, yesterday. "If they will increase the quota of Saudi Arabia, we will be happy to contribute."

Al Jasser's comments suggest he agrees with Brazilian and Russian officials that a cash infusion should be accompanied by a greater say in how the IMF is run. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown lobbied Saudi Arabia and nations with large foreign exchange reserves to boost IMF coffers as the fund is inundated with loan requests during the global economic recession.

The Group of 20 finance chiefs, including those from Saudi Arabia, pledged March 14 to at least double the IMF's pool to $500 billion (Dh1.84 trillion) as the economic crises forces more countries to seek its support. The issue is on the agenda for the April 2 meeting of G20 leaders in London.

"There are numbers thrown around like doubling the quotas but that is for the executive board and for the board of governors and then for the parliaments to approve," Al Jasser said. "That's not a decision we make, it's a collective decision of the whole membership."

Finance ministers from Brazil, Russia, India and China said March 14 that although the IMF's resources should be "very significantly" increased, their countries should also have greater influence in running the fund.

In November the fund had the busiest month in its 60-year history, agreeing to an unprecedented $41.8 billion of loans.