LONDON — With Iceland, Pakistan, Hungary and Ukraine already clamoring for mountains of cash aid, the $250 billion set aside by the International Monetary Fund to help struggling nations through the economic crisis is beginning to look puny.
China and oil-rich Persian Gulf states should fund the bulk of a major boost in the IMF’s bailout pot, Gordon Brown, the British prime minister who has burnished his reputation by taking the lead on the financial meltdown, said Tuesday. Those countries have the largest currency reserves and therefore should do the most.
Chinese institutions held relatively little of the toxic subprime-mortgage debt hobbling Western institutions and were thus largely unscathed by the collapse of the U.S. housing market. But as a major exporter, it is exposed to slumping demand for its products abroad.
There was no immediate comment from the Chinese government, which has reported foreign currency reserves totaling $1.9 trillion.
