IMF meetings may see progress on additional resources

Some countries are in favor of boosting International Monetary Fund (IMF) resources, and the spring meetings may make progress on this, head of the IMF Secretary Department said Tuesday.

Lin Jianhai, a Chinese who was named by IMF chief Christine Lagarde last month as Secretary of the Fund, said in an interview with Xinhua that a decisive breakthrough would be made on the issue of increasing IMF firepower during the spring meetings, which are scheduled from April 20 to 22.

Lin said that despite comparatively stable global financial markets and an improved global economic outlook, the recovery is still fragile.

A stronger global firewall would benefit all members in such an interconnected world, not only the European countries, but also countries with financial needs, he said.

The IMF estimated earlier this year that it may need an additional 500 billion US dollars to beef up its firepower against the crisis.

"Some countries have shown willingness to boost the IMF resources," Lin said, adding that the upcoming spring meetings would make headway regarding this issue.

His confidence was backed by recent announcements made by Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Japan. The three Nordic countries pledged to contribute over 26 billion dollars to beef up the resources of the Fund. Japan, the second largest shareholder of the global lender, also said it would contribute 60 billion dollars.

Global challenges call for global solutions, Lin said, adding that central bank governors and finance ministers should seize the opportunity to discuss and reassess the risks and coordinate their policies in the meetings later this week.