|
|
The decision was welcomed in Berlin, where officials said the German government hopes that members of the G20 group of leading industrial countries will agree to top up IMF resources with at least $400 billion in new money.
European countries have promised to provide $150 billion from the eurozone and $50 billion from the non-eurozone members of the European Union, including the UK – although the British government has yet to give any clear indication of its likely contribution. The Japanese decision will raise the pressure on London to be generous. Denmark, Norway and Sweden confirmed that they would provide a combined extra $26 billion to the IMF.
Germany had expected both China and Japan to pledge an extra $50 billion each to IMF resources, so Tokyo’s decision amounts to a pleasant surprise. Jun Azumi, Japanese finance minister, announced the commitment on Tuesday in Tokyo, before a G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Washington this week, which will be followed by semi-annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank. While Europe’s crisis has eased from last year’s “critical situation”, Mr Azumi said boosting the IMF’s resources “is crucial if we are to ensure that the crisis is completely over”.
Full article (FT subscription required)