Riyadh - International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde
met Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf on Saturday to discuss
efforts to resolve Europe's debt crisis, the state news agency SPA
reported.
The talks in Riyadh also covered regional and global economic conditions, it said on its website.
Saudi King Abdullah and Lagarde on Friday reviewed "IMF action and developments in the world economy," according to SPA.
Oil giant Saudi Arabia is a member of the G-20 group of
leading economies under pressure to boost their contributions to the
IMF's resources for crisis intervention.
The IMF says it wants to raise another $500 billion
(380 billion euros), on top of the nearly $390 billion it has available
now, to help countries in financial distress.
In an interview published on Friday in the Saudi daily
Asharq Al-Awsat, Lagarde said the world body would "rely on its major
member states" to raise the money, without naming Saudi Arabia.
It remains unclear if the kingdom will agree to increase its IMF contributions.
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of crude
oil, saw a record budget surplus in 2011 of more than $81 billion on the
back of high prices on the world market.