Bern - The Swiss Federal Council, the government's executive branch, announced Wednesday it supported giving 10 billion dollars to the International Monetary Fund to boost its lending capacity.

The final decision to dole out the money lays with parliament.

The G20, at its London summit, called for states to raise the funds available to the IMF to 750 billion dollars, an increase of 500 billion, so it could lend to states hit particularly hard by the financial crisis.

Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolph Merz told a newspaper over the weekend that Switzerland, particularly as an exporting nation, had an interest in maintaining the financial stability of other countries.

Switzerland has been a member of the IMF since early last decade but has yet to make a loan.

The Council also said Switzerland would have two seats on the new Financial Stability Board, which replaced the Financial Stability Forum as part of the new architecture designed by the G20, in an effort to boost global oversight.

Switzerland is not a member of the G20 or the European Union, which is part of the international forum. (dpa)