The G20 scorecard on IMF funding

The members of the G20 pledged yesterday to boost the IMF’s lending resources by about $430 billion: After an April 20 meeting during the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, a joint statement issued by the G-20 and the IMF’s policy-setting International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) said there are firm commitments to increase resources ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

The members of the G20 pledged yesterday to boost the IMF's lending resources by about $430 billion:

The members of the G20 pledged yesterday to boost the IMF’s lending resources by about $430 billion:

After an April 20 meeting during the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, a joint statement issued by the G-20 and the IMF’s policy-setting International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) said there are firm commitments to increase resources available to the IMF by more than $430 billion. The statement added that these resources will be available for the whole membership of the IMF and not earmarked for any particular region.

While the group did not release precise national pledges, it appears that a chunk of that total will come from major emerging economies such as China, India, Russia and Brazil.  Another group of G20 members, including Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and the EU countries, had announced contributions in advance of the G20 meeting.

It is clear that the United States will not be participating (Canada has also declined, at least for the moment). No doubt anticipating some negative press for that decision, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made the case this week that U.S. direct loan swaps with the European Central Bank constituted a unique American contribution to the international effort. Via Reuters:

The United States was not among those pledging more money for the IMF this week but Geithner said Washington was doing its part to keep order in markets.

"The United States continues to support the smooth functioning of international financial markets, including through the central bank swap lines with the ECB," he said, referring to the Federal Reserve’s extension of dollar swap lines to reduce risks of a liquidity squeeze in Europe’s banking system.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

Tags: G20, IMF

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