US Lawmakers Back Increased Funding For IMF

Lawmakers on Wednesday said they support US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's call to significantly increase funding for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry said there was bipartisan support on the panel for providing additional resources. He spoke at a press conference following a meeting with IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and World Bank President Robert Zoellick.

The US share of the IMF's New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) is about 20 percent, meaning the US could contribute about $100 billion to the facility under the proposed expansion. In addition, Kerry said there was general agreement at the committee meeting for some amount of increase in IMF funding.

Strauss-Kahn said he supports not only the increase in resources but also more voting power within the IMF for emerging economies. Zoellick expressed concern about trade protectionism and warned senators about the negative effects of countries restricting imports. 'The danger of protectionism, whether of a creeping or overt type, would really make a situation that is very bad much worse,' said Zoellick.

US Calls For IMF Firepower To Triple

The US raised the stakes in its drive for an aggressive response to the global financial crisis Wednesday, calling for a tripling of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) firepower and bigger fiscal stimulus measures worldwide.

US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner called for the radical changes ahead of the G20 finance ministers' meeting in the UK this weekend. The US proposed that the IMF, which has about $250 billion in easily usable resources, should get up to $500 billion more to help it combat instability in crisis-struck countries.

Geithner said the administration will ask Congress to make $100 billion more available nearly doubling the current US commitment to the IMF to aid struggling nations. Given the intricate ties among economies across the world, Geithner said, it is critical for leading economies to move together in a 'sustained' and 'coordinated' fashion. That includes boosting the amount of money available to organizations such as the IMF.

It was reported that "the push represents a significant shift in US attitudes toward the IMF and could prove controversial. The increased funding would require approval from Congress.