Saudi Arabia has not made any proposal to help the IMF fight the financial crisis by increasing its contribution, Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf told Reuters on Sunday ahead of a G20 summit later this week.
"The kingdom has not put forward any proposal," Assaf said in response to Reuters questions on aid the kingdom could offer the International Monetary Fund, expected to become a more aggressive fire-fighter as the global crisis spreads.
Assaf, who is the kingdoms chief representative at the IMF and World Bank, added: "What is on the table now is for support from all the major member states of the fund". The statements downplay speculation that Saudi, the worlds largest oil exporter, was considering increasing its IMF contribution over and above that of other shareholders as global leaders look to fortify the fund during the crisis.
G20 political chiefs are expected to agree on additional capital for the IMF at a summit in London on April 2, but it remains unclear which states would pay more or how much more.
Saudi Arabia is the only Arab member of the G20. Central bank governor Muhammed al-Jasser said this week that Saudi was willing to pay additional capital to the IMF in exchange for higher quotas. Jassers comments suggested that Saudi Arabia would only increase its payment if other countries quotas were increased.
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