Japan will offer to loan up to $100 billion for an International Monetary Fund bailout fund to support nations reeling from the global financial crisis, a Japanese government official said Friday.
Prime Minister Taro Aso will make that offer at this weekend's Group of 20 meeting in Washington, the official said asking not to be identified by name because of government protocol restricting release of such information to the media, CNN reported.
Japan has been eager to boost its international clout by helping to stabilize the world's financial system during the unfolding crisis.
Officials in Tokyo have repeatedly said Japan, with its nearly $1 trillion in foreign currency reserves, is ready to provide funds to the IMF if it needs more money for rescue packages. But they had previously not given an amount.
The Washington-based IMF has dipped into its reserves fund to provide emergency loans to Iceland, Hungary and Ukraine worth more than $30 billion.
The official said no legal changes are needed to provide cash from Japan's currency reserves. Other ways of lending the money would take time because they need parliamentary approval, he told The Associated Press.
The G-20 summit this weekend will bring together leaders from 20 of the world's biggest developed and developing economies to discuss ways to tackle the global financial crisis.
Last month, Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said Japan will offer cash along with proposals about accounting standards and other regulatory changes needed to reform the international financial system.
Nakagawa did not say acceptance of the proposals would be needed to get any of the money but he said Japan expects to play a greater leadership role on the international stage. He said the IMF has about $210 billion but that may not be enough.
"Japan is ready if that proves insufficient," he told reporters. "We see lending to the IMF basically as risk-free."