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EU to give IMF 150 billion Euros in loans

20 December 2011 07:34 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. European Union finance ministers agreed on Monday to provide 150 billion euros (about $195.6 billion) to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in additional bilateral loans as part of efforts to bolster the global lender’s resources for tackling the debt crisis, APA reports citing BBC.

However, the loan amount agreed by the EU ministers during a conference call fell well short of the 200 billion euro targeted by EU leaders at their summit held on December 9 in Brussels.

According to a statement issued after the conference call, France and Germany will contribute 31.40 billion euros and 41.50 billion euros to the loan respectively. Italy would provide 23.48 billion euros and Spain 14.86 billion euros, while the remaining euro area member states contribute as per the 2010 quota reform.

Four countries outside the eurozone, including the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland and Sweden, have indicated that they would also participate in propping up the IMF’s resources. Meanwhile, some eurozone members states indicated that their commitments will be subject to parliamentary approval.

Britain has, however, refused to contribute to the fund as it would be available only to eurozone nations. Nevertheless, the statement issued after Monday’s conference said London has indicated that "it will define its contribution early in the new year in the framework of the G20."

"The EU would welcome G20 members and other financially strong IMF members to support the efforts to safeguard global financial stability by contributing to the increase in IMF resources so as to fill global financing gaps," the statement added.

Meanwhile, media reports citing officials said the three eurozone nations that have already availed joint EU-IMF loans for tackling their sovereign debt problems, namely Greece, Ireland and Portugal, will not be providing the IMF with bilateral loans.