Washington - The International Monetary Fund must be given
more money to rescue poorer nations on the brink of collapse because
of the financial crisis, US legislators and global lenders said
Wednesday, calling the global recession a direct threat to national
security.
US Senator John Kerry, a Democrat who heads the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, warned the economic crisis had the potential to
create 'failed states' that could become breeding grounds for
terrorism, drug trafficking and other security threats.
'In the end, you invite chaos if you don't ... lead in the right
direction,' Kerry said after a private committee meeting with the
heads of the IMF and its sister organization the World Bank.
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said his group 'needs
more resources' to help keep developing countries out of bankruptcy,
but he also tasked advanced countries with taking more measures to
end a banking crisis that has plunged the world into recession.
'Some action has been done, but we need to act much more swiftly'
to stabilize the global financial system, Strauss-Kahn said. Leaders
of the world's 20 leading economies will meet in London next month to
discuss new ways of stabilizing a financial sector that has lost more
than 1 trillion dollars.
Kerry and Republican Senator Richard Lugar said they expected
bipartisan support for a 100-billion-dollar US contribution to the
IMF, which serves as a backstop for governments that need emergency
loans.
Both the IMF and World Bank were 'critical to helping us emerge
from this global economic crisis,' Kerry said.
Dozens of developing countries around the world - especially in
central and eastern Europe - are facing massive budget shortfalls as
local banks fail and wealthy investors have pulled out resources due
to the financial crisis back home.
President Barack Obama's administration has called for at least
500 billion dollars in extra funding for the IMF, including the 100
billion from the United States.
USA
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