Smiling Brown comes out on top as Gulf States 'agree' to financial rescue plan[UK]

Daily Mail ^ | 02 Nov 2008 | Daily Mail

[BGHater]

Gordon Brown was claiming victory today after Gulf States agreed to pump more money into the world's struggling economies.

The Prime Minister met with Saudi Arabian leaders in a bid to persuade them to up their contribution to the International Monetary Fund.

Mr Brown said he believed the kingdom and other oil-rich countries would now agree to the cash injection after  insisting that the fund's emergency reserves needed to be expanded by hundreds of billions of dollars.

There are fears that its current level of £156bn ($250bn) will not be enough to help states threatened by the global economic downturn.

Gordon Brown said he was optimistic Gulf States would increase funding to the IMF after undertaking 'positive talks' with Saudi Arabian leaders

Mr Brown said the IMF needs hundreds of billions of dollars to protect struggling economies from the global financial crisis.

Iceland, Hungary and Ukraine have already been allocated some £18.6bn ($30bn), with Pakistan expected to follow suit by requesting aid.

In a round of interviews, Mr Brown was asked whether he thought the Gulf states would now hand over some of the one trillion dollar windfall they have reaped from soaring oil prices.

He replied: 'Yes, I think people want to invest both in helping the world get through this very difficult period of time but also I think people want to work with us so we are less dependent on oil and have more stability in oil prices.'

He went on: 'The Saudis will, I think, contribute, so we can have a bigger fund worldwide.'

The PM added that countries such as Saudi Arabia and China should be given more say on international bodies.

[BGHater]

This would be a classic Drudge picture.

[razorback-bert]

They forgot to light that tire on fire.