Imf, International Monetary Fund | featured news

The International Monetary Fund says it has not been asked by Spain for a bailout and has not begun preparing one.

Political leaders in Greece need to show the resolve to stay in the euro zone, which will require Athens to stick to the terms of its rescue package, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday.

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was charged in France for his alleged participation in a prostitution ring, prosecutors said.

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday approved a 28 billion euro ($36.7 billion) bailout for Greece, part of a broader international rescue package for the debt-strapped euro zone member.

Debate over Greece’s rescue plan now shifts to the International Monetary Fund, which must decide if it is willing to risk more on a bailout effort that the fund’s own analysis shows has a strong probability of failing.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was taken into custody in connection with an investigation into an alleged prostitution ring operating in France and Belgium.

The International Monetary Fund said it aims to raise up to $500 billion for new loans, and said its staff estimates that countries will need about $1 trillion in loans over the coming years.

Italy and Spain have not asked to be rescued by the International Monetary Fund, the head of the lender said on Monday as she urged European leaders to quickly solve the region's festering debt crisis.

THE warning was clear: Greece was spiraling out of control. But the alarm, sounded in mid-2009, in a draft report from the International Monetary Fund, never reached the outside world. Greek officials saw the draft and complained to the I.M.F. So the final report, while critical, played down the risks that Athens might one day default, with disastrous consequences for all of Europe.

President Obama and the G-20 could not agree on how to add resources to the International Monetary Fund so that it can help with the European debt crisis. G-20 members did say that the IMF should have more tools and money, but decisions on exactly how to do that were put off until next year.