Draft guidelines for wealth fund due in October-IMF

WASHINGTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A first draft of voluntary best practice guidelines for sovereign wealth funds being developed by the International Monetary Fund is expected in October, an IMF spokesman said on Thursday.

IMF spokesman Masood Ahmed told reporters that the IMF's executive board will discuss a preliminary paper on sovereign wealth funds in March and consider the first draft of the guidelines in October, ahead of the IMF fall meetings. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)