LONDON, (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund will study the use of its gold reserves to help finance debt relief for some of the world’s poorest countries, a statement from the Group of Seven industrialised nations said here Saturday.

"To finance the relief of debts owed to the IMF and to enable the Fund to continue to play a role in the poorest countries, the (IMF) Managing Director (Rodrigo Rato) has stated that he will bring forward proposals (in April), covering the Fund’s gold and other resources," said the statement delivered at the end of a two-day meeting of G7 finance ministers.

Britain wants the world’s richest countries to cancel the 80 billion dollars in debt owed by poor nations to the IMF, the World Bank and the African Development Bank. It believes the IMF can help achieve this by revaluing its massive gold holdings.

"For the first time the IMF has announced that it is looking at the use of gold to resolve the issue of debt owed to date," Brown told reporters after finance chiefs from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States wound up their London meeting.

But speaking to reporters Saturday, US Undersecretary of the Treasury John Taylor said the United States was not convinced that gold sales were necessary.

The IMF holds 103.4 million ounces (3.217 tonnes) of gold at designated depositories. The IMFs total gold holdings are valued on its balance sheet at around 8.5 billion dollars on an historical cost basis.