IMF would need another $150 bn to help fight crisis: Strauss-Kahn

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: The International Monetary Fund may need another $150 billion to help counter the hit to emerging markets and poorer countries from a worsening global economic downturn, managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.

The IMF chief, in an interview in Washington, also chided European leaders for failing to grasp the depth of the coming slump in their region, creating the risk of social upheaval. The fund will make a "significant" increase in its $1.4 trillion projection of global financial losses and writedowns, he added.

The remarks by Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister and presidential contender, may help build momentum for proposed stimulus packages in Germany and France. They also indicate that the fund may put pressure on nations with large foreign-exchange reserves, such as China and Saudi Arabia, to step up contributions. "If in six months from now the crisis has worsened and many other of our members need our help, the demand may be above what we have," Strauss-Kahn said in the Jan. 9 interview in his office. "If the political decision is made to do something, I'm convinced that it will not be difficult to find the extra $150 billion" that would double the lender's resources compared with a year ago, to a total of $500 billion, he said. He warned there will be "some decrease" in the IMF's economic forecasts. In November, the fund predicted global growth of 2.2 % this year, with US gross domestic product shrinking by 0.7 %, Japan's by 0.2 % and the euro area's by 0.5 %.

Strauss-Kahn, 59, has already overseen the steepest jump in fund commitments in its six-decade history. The IMF agreed to lend $41.8 billion to troubled economies in November, its largest monthly pledge on record. While Japan in November pledged an additional $100 billion to boost fund resources, other nations have yet to commit to help.

Much of the aid so far has been allotted for Eastern European nations, where policy makers beset by budget deficits and sliding currencies have struggled to contain the economic slump. Strauss-Kahn spoke before departing on a trip that includes a stop in Budapest tomorrow.