PM claims rescue plan talks success

After talks in Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister said he believed the kingdom and other oil-rich countries would agree to up their contribution to the IMF.

Mr Brown has insisted that the fund's emergency reserves need to be expanded by hundreds of billions of dollars.

There are fears that its current level of 250bn dollars (£156bn) will not be enough to help states threatened by the global economic downturn. Iceland, Hungary and Ukraine have already been allocated some 30bn dollars (£18.6bn), with Pakistan expected to follow suit by requesting aid.

In a round of interviews, Mr Brown was asked whether he thought the Gulf states would now hand over some of the one trillion dollar windfall they have reaped from soaring oil prices.

He replied: "Yes, 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."

He went on: "The Saudis will, I think, contribute, so we can have a bigger fund worldwide."

The PM said countries such as Saudi Arabia and China should be given more say on international bodies, and welcomed news that Saudi ruler King Abdullah would be attending a summit in Washington later this month to discuss reform of the global financial system.

Mr Brown also struck a more upbeat tone than previously on the prospects for the UK economy, claiming the "building blocks" for recovery were in place.

He said borrowing could be allowed to rise because the Government had relatively low debt, and added: "Of course we have also got low interest rates compared to previous world downturns so the building blocks for a recovery are in place. The important thing is to get banks now lending to small businesses and families."