Press Release No. 10/80

Press Release: IMF Signs US$10 Billion Note Purchase Agreement with India

March 12, 2010

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Reserve Bank of India have signed an agreement under which the Reserve Bank of India would purchase up to US$10 billion in IMF notes.

The note purchase agreement follows the endorsement by the Executive Board on July 1, 2009 of the framework for issuing notes to the official sector (see Press Release No. 09/248). The Indian authorities had already expressed their intention to invest in IMF notes (See Press Release No. 09/300).

The agreement offers India a safe investment instrument at the same time as boosting the Fund’s capacity to help its members to weather the global financial crisis, and to facilitate an early recovery from the worldwide economic crisis.

The Fund can now add these resources to those already available through agreements signed with other members, which contribute toward an increase in Fund resources that was requested in April 2009 by G-20 leaders and the International Monetary and Financial Committee.

Useful links:

Text of the Note Purchase Agreement with India:
http://www.imf.org/external/np/pp/eng/2010/030810.pdf

Press Release 09/300 welcoming India’s proposal to purchase IMF notes:
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2009/pr09300.htm

Factsheet on Note Issuance:
http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/imfnotes.htm

Agreements bolstering the IMF’s lending capacity:
http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/faq/contribution.htm

A Framework for the Fund's Issuance of Notes to the Official Sector:
http://www.imf.org/external/pp/longres.aspx?id=4347