Press Release No. 16/403

IMF Fund Helping Countries Manage Their Natural Resources Receives US$7.1 Million from Switzerland

September 13, 2016

Switzerland becomes the first partner to contribute to the new six-year phase (2016–22) of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) fund for capacity development on natural resource wealth management, with a financial contribution of CHF7 million (US$7.1 million). The Managing Natural Resource Wealth Fund was launched in 2011 to help countries strengthen management of their natural resource wealth. Ambassador Raymond Furrer, Head of Economic Cooperation and Development of Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and Carla Grasso, IMF Deputy Managing Director, signed today in Bern the letter of understanding for Switzerland’s financial contribution.

Over the last five years, this fund has contributed to significant improvements in a number of countries’ natural resource wealth management through technical assistance and training, analytical work, and diagnostic assessments. With an approximate budget of US$30 million for 2016–22, the new phase will deepen support and possibly expand country coverage, while maintaining its primary focus on resource-rich low- and middle‑income countries.

Ms. Grasso made the following statement: “I’m happy that Switzerland—as a key contributor to IMF capacity development—will add CHF7 million to support the Managing Natural Resource Wealth Fund’s next phase. This phase responds directly to international priorities on effectively mobilizing and managing public revenue, a particularly critical issue for resource-rich countries. We look forward to further deepening this partnership and boosting our capacity development efforts in the spirit of the Addis Tax Initiative and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to the benefit of our member countries.”

Mr. Furrer said: “Switzerland has a longstanding cooperation with the IMF for the delivery of capacity development in partner countries, with first activities going back to the 1990s. We are very pleased to build on the successes of the first phase of the Managing Natural Resource Wealth Fund and ramp up our efforts for the second phase. Continuing our contribution to this very important initiative allows us to support countries in managing their natural resource revenues in ways that promote economic stability and encourage sustainable and inclusive growth in these countries.”

Background information

Switzerland is a strong supporter of IMF’s capacity development activities, having contributed approximately US$71 million since 2010. As an early supporter of IMF multi‑partner vehicles, it has contributed to regional centers in Africa and global funds focused on key topics, including the Revenue Mobilization Fund , the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Fund, the Tax Administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool , and the Managing Natural Resource Wealth Fund.

The Managing Natural Resource Wealth Fund was launched to help countries mobilize and manage their natural resource wealth effectively and sustainably, and to date has supported 34 projects in 19 countries, 8 research projects, and 5 conferences/workshops. The partners for Phase 1 are Australia, the European Commission, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, and Switzerland. The IMF and its development partners launched Phase 2 during the annual steering committee meeting held in Washington on June 14-15, 2016.

Global thematic funds like the Managing Natural Resource Wealth Fund support the IMF’s capacity development activities (technical assistance and training) in specialized thematic areas that complement the work of the IMF’s regional technical assistance and training centers.

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