Korea to contribute $15 billion to IMF

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― South Korea announced a plan Friday to provide $15 billion to the International Monetary Fund, which seeks to expand its lending capacity.

The move comes as spring meetings of the IMF and G-20 are under way here. South Korea’s finance minister, Bahk Jae-wan, and the Bank of Korea chief, Kim Choong-soo, are attending the sessions.

In a joint statement with Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom, South Korea said the contribution is part of efforts to “increase the precautionary resources of the IMF’s total resourcing.”

Australia will contribute $7 billion, Singapore $4 billion, and the United Kingdom $15 billion, according to the statement.

“This will be by way of contingent loans or note purchase agreements,” it added. “These resources will increase the lending capacity of the IMF and enable it to play its systemic role for the benefit of all members.”

South Korea said it decided the amount of the contribution in consideration of its international stature and its share in the IMF.

South Korea, with Asia’s fourth largest economy, served as a chair nation of the G-20, which involves 20 developed and emerging economies, in 2010.

“South Korea’s decision this time to participate in the expansion of the IMF’s financial resources is very meaningful in that a country, which received bailout funds during the 1997 Asia-wide financial crisis, has become a key player in resolving a global crisis,” the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said in a press release.