Brown: Gulf to announce IMF funds at G20 summit

BROWN CALL: The British PM expects extra funding from the Gulf region for the IMF to be announced at the G20 summit in Washington. (Getty Images)

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he believed Gulf states would announce extra money for an IMF bailout fund at this month's G20 summit in Washington on the world financial crisis.

Brown has now completed a tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates trying to persuade the energy rich region to top up the International Monetary Fund's $250 billion emergency bailout pot.

The British premier says hundreds of billions of extra dollars are needed to stop financial "contagion" spreading. The IMF is already bailing out Iceland, Ukraine and Hungary.

"When we come to Washington... I believe we will see countries coming together to make their statements about what they can contribute," he told reporters in Dubai.

"There's been a positive response but it's not my job to announce funds, it's a matter for the IMF when they talk to the individual countries."

The G20, which includes both Britain and Saudi Arabia, is meeting in Washington on November 15 for crunch talks on the crisis and will also discuss reforming international institutions like the IMF.

Brown met Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum, who is also vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday.

Since he arrived in the Gulf on Saturday, Brown has met Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah - who will attend the G20 meeting, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

Lord Peter Mandelson, the British Business Secretary and former EU commissioner who is travelling with Brown, told BBC radio that Gulf states would give money to help out other nations.

"The Gulf is open to business but they're also signing up as keen partners to help the rest of the world to get through the international financial crisis," he said.

"Specifically, it means that they will contribute to the IMF fund... but they will also contibute as partners to the decision-making that we need to make to build up the institutions, the new practices.

Mandelson said Brown was "worth his weight in gold" in negotiations with international partners in securing fresh business worth over 500 million pounds (about $790 million US dollars) during the trip.

Brown, the former British finance minister whose struggling premiership has been boosted by his handling of the financial crisis, also wants China to give extra.

He says he supports an expanded role in the IMF for countries which contribute to an extended fund. Experts say Gulf states perceive the IMF as being dominated by the United States and other leading industrialised nations in the G7.

Brown has also stressed the "central" role to be played in the crisis by the next US president as Americans went to the polls to choose between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.

This role would include boosting the world economy, working "to defeat protectionism in favour of free trade" and moving towards Middle East peace.

Brown said on Tuesday he would work with whoever won the White House.

During his tour, Brown has also called for more stability in the oil market, despite opposition to calls for lower prices from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE are all members.

The Qatari premier said he wanted to cooperate with the international community on the financial crisis, while other nations visited by Brown have not spoken publicly about the outcome of the talks.

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