Italy, Spain haven't asked IMF for help, Lagarde

Italy and Spain have not asked to be rescued by the International Monetary Fund, the head of the lender said on Monday as she urged European leaders to quickly solve the region's festering debt crisis.

Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the IMF can extend financial lifelines only when governments ask for them and so far help has only been extended to Portugal, Ireland and Greece.

"At this point in time the IMF has not received any request for assistance from, nor are we negotiating with, either Italy or Spain," she said after meeting with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala.

"We have offered our assistance for fiscal monitoring in Italy," she said.

Lagarde is visiting fast-growing Peru and Latin American heavyweights Brazil and Mexico this week to drum up support for more global cooperation.

Analysts say the IMF may be looking to emerging markets to help increase the size of its credit lines as European woes mount. Brazil has long argued that global institutions should be overhauled to reflect the growing importance of developing countries.

Bond markets have been increasingly volatile on concerns that German opposition to an expanded role for the European Central Bank could leave countries without an important financial backstop if one were needed.

Italian yields are now in the territory that forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek bailouts and an auction on Tuesday of up to 8 billion euros of BTP bonds will be a crucial test.

"As far as the European situation is concerned, clearly we see the need for a comprehensive, rapid set of proposals that can form a comprehensive solution, and the IMF can be part of that," Lagarde said.

EU officials have indicated some sort of IMF program could make sense for both Italy and Spain as part of a multi-pronged response, involving the ECB and the euro zone rescue fund, to supervise reforms and restore investor confidence in the countries' sovereign debt.

Earlier on Monday, the IMF firmly denied an Italian newspaper report that it was in talks to give a bailout to Italy.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is expected to unveil tax measures on Dec. 5 to win back investor confidence, but pressure from the markets could force him to act more quickly.

In Spain, the center-right People's Party, which is due to form a new government by mid-December following last week's elections, is considering applying for international aid as one option to shore up its finances, sources close to the party have told the press.