The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has proposed a plan to allow the multilateral lender to directly tap into financial markets to be able to help member nations in crisis, according to a document published Thursday.

"There may be circumstances where it is either necessary, or preferable on effectiveness grounds, to augment significantly the Fund's own resources," the IMF said in a report dated March 23 and released Thursday.

"While in 2009-2010 it was possible to do so by turning to member countries, the process took time and may not always be politically feasible," it said.

Instead, establishing the means to borrow from the markets at short notice to supplement its existing resources "could be worth exploring," it said.

The news comes a day after the IMF said it stood ready to provide aid to Portugal, the latest eurozone nation seeking a bailout from debt woes.

In the middle of the global financial crisis in 2009 the IMF sought to triple its resources to broaden lending capacity.

While it was able to garner pledges from the Group of 20 major economies, it only managed to meet that goal in March this year.

The "usable resources" of the crisis lending account for medium and high-income countries today totals $671 billion, the highest level since the IMF was founded more than 60 years ago.

There was no immediate reaction from member states that would have to approve the plan, but it could face resistance. The IMF since its creation has been financed 100 per cent by its member under a quota share system that now includes 187 member states.

Domenico Lombardi, an economics professor and former IMF administrator for Italy, said IMF resources have not kept up with growth in international capital markets but that some states may not want the institution to move away from its independence.

Lombardi noted that other multilateral institutions such as the World Bank have borrowed from the markets "and the Fund can certainly learn from that experience."

channelnewsasia.com