Japan to lend $60b to IMF for resource boost

TOKYO - Japan will lend $60 billion to the International Monetary Fund to help prevent the European sovereign debt crisis from dragging down the global economy, the Finance Minister Jun Azumi said Tuesday.

The announcement came after European leaders struggle to keep the crisis within Greece and some other smaller eurozone members.

Japan is the second biggest shareholder of the IMF, only after the United States.

Azumi said Japan's IMF contribution was the "biggest" among non- European nations and many countries are likely to follow Japan's move.