Algeria abided by a request of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and bought IMF shares worth 5 billion dollars. The announcement was made in Algiers just as the IMF and World Bank are holding their joint annual meeting in Tokyo. The request, Finance Minister Karim Djoudi told the Aps news agency on the sidelines of the Tokyo meeting, was presented by the IMF to Algeria as a country with financial assets to enable it to grant loans to countries in need.