Press Release No. 10/340

Press Release: IMF Signs Agreements Totaling SDR 5.3 billion with Japan, the Banque de France, the United Kingdom and the People's Bank of China to Support Lending to Low-Income Countries

September 17, 2010

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), as Trustee of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), has signed agreements with Japan, the Banque de France, the United Kingdom and the People’s Bank of China to secure a total of SDR 5.256 billion (about US$8 billion) in new loan resources for low-income countries. Note Purchase Agreements—the first ever to fund the IMF’s concessional lending—were signed with the Japanese authorities for SDR 1.8 billion (about US$2.7 billion), the United Kingdom authorities for SDR 1.328 billion (about US$2 billion), and the People’s Bank of China for SDR 800 million (about US$1.2 billion). A Loan Agreement was signed with the Banque de France for SDR 1.328 billion (about US$2 billion).

The agreements, all signed on September 3, 2010, expand the IMF’s capacity to help low-income countries hit hard by the current global crisis by increasing the loan resources available for the recently reformed concessional lending facilities. Following the Executive Board’s approval of these reforms in July 2009, the Managing Director launched a fund-raising campaign seeking SDR 10.8 billion in new bilateral loan resources and SDR 200–400 million in bilateral contributions to subsidize the costs of concessional lending (see Press Release No. 09/268).