The French and British governments have announced an allocation of $US4 billion to the International Monetary Fund to help poorer countries.
The money will go to a new loan facility to help countries which do not have enough money to pay for imports as a result of the economic crisis.
IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said he hoped other countries would follow suit.
The BBC reports he revealed that the IMF would have run out of money for the loan fund - at zero interest rates - within months had France and Britain not come up with the money.
