Finance officials comments at IMF meetings

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Financial officials from around the world are in Washington this weekend for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank fall meetings.

On Friday, top officials from the Group of Seven rich nations promised exceptional and urgent steps to deal with the global financial crisis.

Below are key quotes from officials on Saturday:

CHRISTINE LAGARDE, French economy minister, speaking to reporters about interbank lending guarantees:

"Guarantees, whether they relate to certain loans, certain debt issues, certain interbank loans or deposits, have multiple dimensions and we have to examine them on a case-by-case basis to see whether they have a distortionary character."

"We committed ourselves, in both the G7 statement and the conclusion of the Ecofin, to ensuring that any measure taken by a member state should take care to avoid distortionary effects in other member states."

DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN, IMF managing director, at a news conference :

"In the coming days ... what I expect is that the reaction by the different institutions will be positive enough to unfreeze the different markets and to restore the necessary funding."

"The crisis is not only a crisis limited to advanced countries, but it also hit a lot of emerging countries, low income. And so we (the IMF) need to be ready to answer and we are already answering to many countries asking for support. To do that we have a lot of resources that are available...we're ready to help the country that needs some support."

YOUSSEF BOUTROS-GHALI, chairman, IMF steering committee, at a news conference:

"We are all committed to the (G7) plan of action ... this is an essential element for restoring confidence."

"We are committed to resolving this crisis ... that is not a small achievement."

"I am sure from the discussions there will be a number of measures that will be in the coming days coming forward."

IMF steering committee communique:

"The committee recognizes that the depth and systemic nature of the crisis call for exceptional vigilance, coordination, and readiness to take bold action. It underscores that the fund has a critical mandate to foster the multilateral cooperation needed to restore and safeguard international monetary and financial stability. The committee considers that, using its emergency procedures, the fund stands ready to quickly make available substantial resources to help member countries cover financing needs."

GUIDO MANTEGA, Brazil finance minister, addressing IMF steering committee: