IMF sees OPEC surplus as aid for third world

The International Monetary Fund plans to raise about $25 billion from oil-producing countries over the next three years to help developing nations, an IMF official said Thursday. He said the response of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates had been encouraging.

Increased lending by international institutions is one suggested solution to the problem of some oil-exporting states having huge surplus revenues while most developing countries face spiraling balance-of-payments deficits. Surplus revenues of the 13 OPEC nations will be over $100 billion this year, most of it belonging to the Arab oil producers. But the developing countries' deficit will total about $70 billion.