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UPDATE 2-Saudi Arabia says has not proposed IMF aid hike

Published 03/29/2009, 04:30 PM
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* Saudi Arabia says not proposed IMF contribution hike

* Discussion is about support from all major members (Adds quotes, background)

RIYADH, March 29 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has not made any proposal to help the IMF fight the financial crisis by increasing its contribution, Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf said on Sunday in response to a Reuters query ahead of the G20 summit this week.

Assaf was responding to questions about talk that Saudi was considering offering $90 billion to the International Monetary Fund if its voting rights were doubled and it were satisfied with new financial regulations expected to be hashed out at the summit.

"This is totally baseless," Assaf said in a written response. "The kingdom has not put forward any proposal on this matter and it has not discussed it."

"What is on the table now is for support from all the major member states of the fund," said Assaf, the kingdom's chief representative at the IMF and World Bank.

The statements addressed speculation that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, was considering increasing its IMF contribution over and above that of other shareholders as global leaders look to fortify the fund's firefighting role.

G20 political chiefs are expected to agree on additional capital for the IMF at the 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 last week that Saudi Arabia was willing to pay additional capital to the IMF in exchange for higher quotas. [ID:nLP946445]

Jasser's comments suggested that Saudi Arabia would only increase its payment if other countries' quotas were increased.

The United States, which has indicated it is willing to give up to $100 billion to the IMF, has said there should be $500 billion in new funds on top of $250 billion the IMF already has.

But with advanced economies and the IMF's largest shareholders -- the United States and European nations -- in recession, the onus is increasingly on countries with trade surpluses such as China and Saudi Arabia to commit money.

Saudi Arabia now contributes to 3.21 percent of total IMF capital through its quota and has 3.16 percent of the total votes, according to the IMF website.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown asked Saudi Arabia to provide more money for the IMF during a visit to Riyadh in November, but Saudi Arabia reacted coolly to the idea.

Saudi officials say the kingdom is already doing enough to help the global economy recover by keeping planned public investments on track at a time when oil prices have fallen from a high near $150 a barrel in July to around $51 on Friday.

The kingdom is projecting spending $400 billion in the five years to 2014, a quarter of which will be in its state oil sector. This, according to Saudi officials, offers a rare window of opportunity to many global companies amid the current crisis.

While Gulf oil exporters such as Saudi Arabia have built up a cushion of reserves during six years of soaring oil prices, their revenues have been hit by the fall in crude prices.

The IMF's capital is increased through members' quotas, or subscriptions, which are usually determined by the size of a country's economy, trade and reserves, among other factors. (Reporting by Souhail Karam; Editing by Thomas Atkins, Rupert Winchester and Steve Orlofsky)

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