The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Thursday that policymakers from its member nations will discuss topics including increasing additional lending resources for the global lender during its upcoming Spring Meetings.

Against the backdrop of important efforts made by the European nations in recent months, "we believe that we have a good basis to continue with the process of increasing the IMF resources, a process that will benefit all our members", IMF chief spokesman Gerry Rice said at a regular press briefing.

Eurozone finance ministers announced last month that the 17 eurozone member countries had agreed to build an 800 billion euro (about 1.1 trillion U.S. dollar) financial firewall against the current debt crisis, adding that eurozone countries had committed to providing 150 billion euros in additional bilateral contributions to the Washington-based IMF to step up its lending capacity.

The IMF has been calling for a "comprehensive approach" to contain the eurozone debt crisis including beefing up financial support from European partners, an increased role of the European Central Bank (ECB), a stronger European firewall supplemented by bigger IMF firepower, Rice stressed.

The IMF announced earlier this year that it aimed to seek up to 500 billion U.S. dollars in additional lending resources to beef up its firepower, amid mounting worries over the ongoing eurozone debt turmoil.

However, the United States, the IMF's largest shareholder, has remained lukewarm to this proposal by far.

In an open policy speech made on Tuesday in Washington D.C., IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde highlighted the IMF's role in supporting its members to overcome various economic and financial challenges. Lagarde welcomed the latest eurozone move to strengthen its bailout fund, saying "the time has come to increase our firepower".

Policymakers from important international organizations including the Group of 20 (G20) and Group of 24 (G24) will also meet during the Spring Meetings, and increasing the IMF's lending resources is expected to be one of the key topics on their agendas, Rice added.

The Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, its sister agency, are scheduled to kick off on April 20 in Washington D.C., gathering central governors, finance ministers and other experts to discuss key economic issues.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet