Japan's Azumi cool on G20 agreement on IMF cash

by lexie Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:25 pm

Feb 20, 2012 21:48 EST

Japan's Azumi cool on G20 agreement on IMF cash

The G20 is not yet ready to agree on providing more funds to the International Monetary Fund to fight Europe's debt crisis, Japan's finance minister said Tuesday ahead of a key meeting this weekend.

The Group of 20 nations "are not yet in a situation where they are moving in the same direction and are about to decide specific amounts" of additional funding for the IMF, Jun Azumi said at a news conference.

Azumi said this weekend's meeting with his G20 counterparts in Mexico City would give them a chance to "examine progress in the European situation".

His comments come as eurozone chiefs hold crunch talks in Brussels on closing a deal for a massive new bailout for Greece, as its leaders also push for a huge debt writedown by creditors.

China and Japan -- two of the IMF's biggest contributors -- share the view that "there may still be some room for Europe to make efforts" to deal with its debt crisis, said Azumi, who met Chinese vice premier Wang Qishan last weekend.

The two Asian giants "will have talks to agree on a specific amount before providing more funds, rather than having discussions with the IMF separately," he said.

Last month Japan said it was ready to answer an IMF call for extra cash, saying it was "prepared to support European efforts to stabilise the market" based on strong efforts by European nations.

The IMF -- which along with the European Central Bank and European Union makes up the "troika" of bailout contributors -- said in January it was seeking to increase its lending capacity by up to $500 billion to confront the debt crisis.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde and her top staff have been polling G20 leaders to see if they will contribute, but the US has already said it has no plans to provide more cash.

Source: AFP Asian Edition

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