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March 12, 2009

Obama Seeks $100B for Global IMF Assistance
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The Obama administration says it will ask Congress for a $100 billion
commitment to the International Monetary Fund to aid struggling nations
hit by the economic crisis. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said
poorer countries need assistance for the downturn to reverse.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner: “It’s time now for us to move
together and to begin to act to put in place a stronger framework of
reforms. A lot of good work has happened, but we need to now bring this
together so that we’re together as a world economy working together.
Everything we do in the United States will be more effective if we have
the world moving with us.”

It’s unclear what kind of conditions recipient nations would face for
accepting the new IMF aid. President Obama said Geithner will push for
greater international commitments at an upcoming summit of G20 finance
ministers.

President Obama: “We’ve got two goals in the G20. The first is to make
sure that there is concerted action around the globe to jumpstart the
economy. The second goal is to make sure that we are moving forward on a
regulatory reform agenda that ensures that we don’t see these same kinds
of systemic risks and the potential for this kind of crisis again in the
future.”



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