This was what I posted earlier in the week in discussing the IMF lack of credible fire power - and actually it's worse that what I had surmised. So , when you get down to it , the IMF has 200 billion - not 430 billion and its all money from Europe that was pledged months ago.....What a firewall - and no , that won't allow a bailout of Spain to be handled !

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9218915/United-States-curbs-use-of-extra-430bn-of-IMF-firepower.html

Britain pledged an extra £10bn ($15bn) to the International Monetary Fund but Treasury officials stressed the contribution is contingent on the US ratifying an agreement struck two years ago in Seoul. The US, though, is not expected to sign it off until after November’s presidential election at the earliest.

According to IMF officials, a number of other countries have attached similar conditions to their contributions, potentially limiting the new bail-out fund’s firepower.

Although the weekend’s agreement to double the IMF’s war chest to around $800bn has been widely welcomed, the small print could partially undermine rescue efforts and confidence in the deal.

Several countries including the UK need the Seoul deal on quotas ratified by the US – the IMF’s largest member – to release funding headroom under a technical arrangement known as a “NAB rollback”. Without the rollback, politicians would have to secure parliamentary approval for any increase in IMF resources – a process which itself could take more than a year.

No such conditions are attached to the eurozone’s $200bn of fresh commitments, however.

The IMF also still has to finalise contribution terms. Brazil is demanding a bigger share of the IMF vote in return for a bi-lateral loan, while China has been lobbying for the fund to soften its rhetoric on China’s exchange rate policy.China is also not expected to quantify its support for the IMF until after a new leader is named.

Others have taken a more hardline position. The US and Canada have refused to make any contribution at all on the grounds that Europe should be doing more itself and that the $1 trillion firewall euro members agreed in March is not enough. Jim Flaherty, the Canadian finance minister, said the only circumstances under which Canada might step up were “where other countries outside the eurozone require assistance”.

The IMF said in its communiqué that it had “firm commitments to increase resources by over $430bn” and the “global economy is rec­o­ve­ring gradually [but] high risks rem­ain and more needs to be done”.

Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director, has said the increase in resources, alongside the eurozone’s $1 trillion firewall, had “put the world recovery on a sounder footing”. However, she used the Washington meetings to push for more fiscal integration between eurozone members and to press for the creation of eurobonds, a proposal opposed by Germany.

Chancellor George Osborne backed Ms Lagarde, saying in his statement to the IMF: “The euro area should develop some form of fiscal risk sharing.”

Spain is at the epicentre of the latest concerns with fresh fears about the state of its banking system. Spanish officials revealed over the weekend that they are considering plans to take toxic assets off banks’ balance sheets.