Congress is this week expected to approve Barack Obama’s request for an extra $108bn for the International Monetary Fund, but it will come at a political price after weeks of grandstanding, messy compromise and horse-trading.

The request, tacked on to a $100bn (€71bn, £60bn) war funding bill, provoked a backlash in Congress as Republicans and some Democrats balked at what they called another bail-out, this time for foreign countries and banks. The administration had thought putting it in the war funding bill would speed its passage: which Republican would vote against money for US troops? But the move backfired and the administration spent last week scrambling for votes.