USA Today quotes CGD senior fellow Arvind Subramanian on the IMF's request for additional funds from rich countries.
From the article:
"'A lot of capital has left emerging market countries where stock markets are down 30.0% to 50.0% and currencies have come down,' said Arvind Subramanian, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. He said the Fund seems to be preparing for a protracted global slowdown since it has enough money to cover countries' needs in the short term.
'It would seem prudent to aim for a doubling of the resources available for Fund lending, even if the resources appear adequate in the current situation,' said IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky, emphasizing that resources may not be enough if financial weakness isn't corrected before it spreads further. (See "The IMF Only Has So Much Oomf.") The Ukraine, Iceland, Hungary, Serbia, Belarus and Turkey have already been talking to the IMF, which has 185 member countries.
So far, only Japan has offered additional funding with a $100.0 billion unilateral loan although Strauss-Kahn seems to be expecting more countries to come forward. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been lobbying Saudi Arabia and China for more money, and Subramanian said China is certainly in the position to offer financial support--though neither country is likely to give money without also asking for a more active role in managing the Fund, he added."