Britain could be asked to find £115billion to rescue debt-stricken countries – nearly £5,000 per household.
Fears were growing last night that the International Monetary Fund might not have enough cash for a global bailout of struggling economies.
Its crisis fund may need to grow ten-fold – meaning a huge increase in contributions from the UK.
Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the IMF, said the current war chest of around £250billion ‘pales in comparison with the potential financing needs of vulnerable countries’ and needs to be expanded to deal with ‘worst-case scenarios’.
Sources in Washington said the IMF’s pot of cash could be expanded to £2.6trillion although officials in London said that figure looked ‘incredibly high’.
Mrs Lagarde’s warning came as U.S. President Barack Obama said the debt crisis in Europe was ‘scaring the world’ and that eurozone leaders were not dealing with the issue quickly enough.
[More]
See Also:
Barack Obama: Euro zone debt crisis ‘scaring the world’
Wary of open questions, Bundestag mulls augmenting euro rescue fund
Merkel to host Greek PM for talks on debt crisis
Afternoon Updates:
12:09 pm EDT, September 27th, 2011 – Germany downplays talk of boosting debt fund
12:10 pm EDT, September 27th, 2011 – TSX surges on euro-zone hopes
12:12 pm EDT, September 27th, 2011 – Risks exposed in China’s property boom
12:13 pm EDT, September 27th, 2011 – Euro: A ‘loose cannon on the deck of the world’?
12:15 pm EDT, September 27th, 2011 – Greece prime minister makes plea for German support
12:17 pm EDT, September 27th, 2011 – The trader who lifted the lid on what the City really thinks
12:21 pm EDT, September 27th, 2011 – €2 trillion fund extension ‘not on table’
I thought Great Britain was broke? Fire up the printing presses, we need more money.
mid island mike