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DOHA - BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Sunday he expected Saudi Arabia to give more money to boost the International Monetary Fund's ability to bail out nations hardest hit by worldwide economic chaos.
The IMF has 250 billion pounds (S$596 billion) available to help countries struggling to stay afloat - but Mr Brown wants to increase this by hundreds of billions of dollars.
'The Saudis will I think contribute like other countries so we can have a bigger fund worldwide,' said Mr Brown, who is on a four-day tour of oil-rich Gulf states to drum up support for his plan.
'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.'
Mr Brown spoke a day after talks with Saudi King Abdullah, who will attend a special Group of 20 summit of leading industrialised and developing nations in Washington on Nov 15 devoted to the unfolding crisis.
Speaking to British and Saudi business leaders on Sunday, Mr Brown said it was in the interest of Gulf states to help other nations out to prevent economic 'contagion' spreading. He went on to call for more stable oil prices to help the world economy.
Gulf states have been shaken by oil prices sliding below US$60 (S$89) a barrel after record highs of nearly US$150 in July, as traders anticipate less demand for oil on account of the economic slowdown.
In Latin American meanwhile, Venezuela, another major oil producing state, will 'expropriate' its banks if hit by financial crisis, the country's outspoken leader said on Sunday.
'If something similar comes to pass in Venezuela, you should not have the slightest doubt that I won't give a penny to the banks - I'll expropriate them,' said President Hugo Chavez, speaking on Sunday in the southeastern state of Barinas.
The Venezuelan leader said he found it 'strange' that rich countries which 'have no money to fight poverty, from one day to the next come up with billions of dollars (to bail out the banks)'.
They remain unable, he chided, to finance 'the production of food and medicine or to support education, but can help out the bankrupt bankers'.
Finance ministers from the 15 EU member states that use the euro meet on Monday in Brussels, a few hours after the European Commission puts out its latest economic forecasts.
In Germany, Economy Minister Michael Glos said steps to be rolled out Wednesday to help Europe's biggest national economy weather the global economic crisis would create or guarantee nearly one million jobs.
In Switzerland, unemployment could soar to 3.5 per cent if growth next year falls below one per cent, said Mr Serge Gaillard, head of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs' employment unit. It now is 2.4 per cent. -- AFP
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