U.K.'s PM Brown Urges Saudi Arabia To Fund IMF Amid Credit Crunch

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AHN) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is looking to tap into the sovereign wealth funds from the Persian Gulf to support International Monetory Fund's (IMF) efforts to help countries at risk of collapsing due to financial turmoil.

Brown started his four-day visit to the Gulf with the talks in Saudi Arabia with King Abdullah on Sunday. His visit is aimed to create funding support for IMF and to discuss economic, energy and business issues amid credit crunch.

"The Saudis and other countries in the Gulf States are very important, they are the countries with great revenues and oil wealth," he told reporters before arriving in Riyadh.

"What starts with negotiations in Saudi and elsewhere can end with great benefits for families in Britain. Everybody has got a part to play in solving the world downturn."

Last week, Barclays PLC stepped up to rasie as much as $11.7 billion (7.3 billion pounds, 9.3 billion euros) from investors in the Middle Eastern region to boost its financial condition and avoid borrowing funds from British government.

The U.K.'s second-largest bank will raise capital, a decision is subject to shareholders' approval, from investors including the Qatar Investment Authority and an Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund.

While some of the other banks in the United Kingdom have asked for funds from the government, Barclays' Board believes to maintain as "a strong, independent and well capitalised bank."

Brown had expressed concerns on the limited impact of $250 billion set aside by the International Monetary Fund as a part of its redit crunch contingency fund.

Recently, IMF decided to provide up to $30 billion in funds to the struggling econmies including Iceland, Hungary and the Ukraine to deal with the on-going financial crisis.