$18 billion for the IMF

Playing politics with the IMF may seem good sport to House Republicans, but their games now imperil international financial stability and the future growth of the U.S. economy.

When the House returns to work next week, it must approve America's long-delayed $18 billion contribution to the IMF. The Fund is the world economy's front-line defense against the financial problems that threaten to spread from Asia's developing countries to Japan, Latin America and now Russia, where President Boris Yeltsin on Friday appealed to Western leaders for swift international assistance. America's own economy risks serious damage if the IMF's ability to respond to this spreading turbulence is impaired.

The Senate has approved the IMF spending request in full. But in the House it has been blocked by the philosophical misgivings of some Republicans about financial bailouts and by the insistence of others on attaching anti-abortion language to any IMF appropriation. Last month, Speaker Newt Gingrich suggested that he would try to get some IMF money through the House this summer. One idea under discussion involves slicing off a $3.5 billion piece of the administration's request for quick approval while continuing to hold the rest hostage to Republican political demands. That is not much help, since the remaining $14.5 billion is needed for immediate lending.

Approval of that $14.5 billion would quickly bring in a further $65 billion from other countries under the IMF's standard payment arrangements. Passing up the chance to have other nations contribute that much money to future bailouts would be irresponsible. IMF reserves are now perilously low when measured against current lending commitments.

-- The New York Times