Brown mobilises Gulf funds for IMF bail-out plans
03 Nov 2008
British prime minister Gordon Brown is on a visit to West Asian Gulf region after persuading Saudi Arabia to pump more funds to the International Monetary Fund for bailing out crisis-stricken economies.
''The Saudis will, I think, contribute so we can have a bigger fund worldwide,' Brown said following a weekend visit to the Saudi capital.
Brown also extended his visit to other Gulf countries like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to mobilise more resources for the IMF.
The British prime minister is hoping to raise hundreds of billions of extra dollars for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) so it can expand its bailout fund for countries hit by the world economic crisis.
He has also appealed to China, which is flush with cash from exports.
The IMF is already set to help Iceland, Ukraine and Hungary, and Brown wants it to be able to step in elsewhere if necessary.
Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani is also likely to cooperate.
Qatar has the highest per capita income in the world, thanks largely to its major oil and gas reserves, while the UAE controls around nine percent of the world's oil reserves.
Brown's tour comes ahead of a meeting of G20 international leaders, which both he and Saudi King Abdullah will attend, in Washington on November 15 which will address issues including IMF reform.
Brown did not disclose the scale of the Saudi pledge, saying the figures would be revealed at the summit in Washington in the middle of this month.
