G7 Finance Ministers

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury – in the House of Commons at 10:30 am on 1 March 2007.

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Photo of Gordon Brown Gordon Brown The Chancellor of the Exchequer 10:30, 1 March 2007

I am grateful for that question because it allows me to say that the International Monetary Fund is not going bankrupt, and that its role is changing from conflict resolution to the prevention of crises. I believe that, given that new role to perform, the IMF will need less money to do its job. Its emphasis will be on publicising, transparency, surveillance and making sure that the world knows the state of individual economies and of individual continents. In future, it will be engaged in fewer of the large lending operations in which it used to be involved. However, as chairman of the IMF committee, I can assure the hon. Gentleman that, far from being bankrupt, the IMF is extending its role into new areas.