Chinese vice premier, British chancellor of the exchequer discuss IMF meeting

BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan and British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne on Wednesday discussed the upcoming spring meetings of the the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

During a telephone discussion, Osborne voiced Britain's viewpoint on the two upcoming meetings to be held in Washington on April 20-22.

He also explained his country's policy considerations related to an upcoming meeting of the finance ministers of the G-20, and a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the G-7 on Thursday in Washington.

Osborne also discussed structural reforms of the IMF and resource contributions to the Washington-based international lender.

For his part, Wang elaborated China's position on the issues.

Lin Jianhai, 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.

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

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