After several years in which very few countries went to the IMF (International Monetary Fund) to request funding, the current financial crisis has reversed this trend and the IMF has already come to the rescue of several countries that could not find the necessary funds anywhere else (Iceland, Hungary...). As the crisis spread to more emerging countries it is very likely that we will see more of them knocking at the IMF's door. The IMF has boosted its resources with a $100 billion loan from the Japanese government and today Timothy Geithner has proposed expanding the IMF's capacity to borrow to $500 billion.
If you are interested in reading more about the IMF role I recommend that you visit
their web site on the Financial Crisis where they talk about their programs but they also present their views on their crisis. Very useful if you are interested in emerging markets.
Antonio Fatás
P.S. This academic year I am on sabbatical from INSEAD and spending some of my time at the Research Department at the IMF, a great source of content and inspiration for this blog.