India may not be asked for $10bn aid to Eurozone

The country may not be called upon to give the money if world situation gets better, says Secretary, Dept of Economic Affairs

India may not be called upon to inject $10 billion (Rs 55,000 crore) into the IMF bailout fund to help the debt-wracked Euro zone tide over its financial crisis after it announced its contribution if the global economic situation gets better, an official said today.

R Gopalan, Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, said that the $10 billion dollar contribution announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the G20 Summit yesterday is still considered part of the country's reserves and that the situation has not reached where a transfer of funds have been effected.

"It (contribution) is considered part of our reserves. The country may not be called upon to give the money if the world situation gets better," he said.

"India's contribution of $10 billion as part of the $75 billion pledged by the five-nation BRICS bloc to the IMF's additional firewall of $430 billion is a message to the financial markets that a firepower is available to meet the contingencies and to give confidence and calm the markets," the official said.    

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday said that he was happy to announce that India has decided to contribute $10 billion to the IMF's additional firewall of $430 billion.