IMF Executive Board Approves Decisions to Implement a Package on Resources and Governance Reform

IMF News, January 17, 2020

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The Executive Board approved a doubling of the New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) and recommended to the Board of Governors a resolution concluding the 15th General Review of Quotas (15th Review) without a quota increase and providing guidance on the 16th General Review of Quotas (16th Review).
These actions implement elements of the package on IMF resources and governance reform endorsed by the membership during the 2019 Annual Meetings and reaffirmed by the IMFC on October 18, 2019.
The IMFC called for a strong, quota-based, and adequately resourced IMF and looked forward to consideration of a doubling of the NAB and a further temporary round of bilateral borrowing beyond 2020.

The Executive Board approved the doubling of the NAB from the current SDR 182.4 billion (US$ 252.1 billion) to SDR 364.7 billion (US$ 504.2 billion).
The new NAB period is set for 2021 to 2025.
The changes include a few additional amendments to the NAB decision and will become effective after NAB participants secure necessary domestic approvals and provide required consents.
Targeted effectiveness date: January 1, 2021.

The Executive Board recommended concluding the 15th Review without an increase in quotas because support for a quota increase under the 15th Review fell short of the required majority.
Guidance on the 16th Review was provided in line with the October 2019 IMFC Communiqué, including:
- Revisiting the adequacy of quotas and continuing IMF governance reform under the 16th Review.
- Developing a new quota formula as a guide.
- Extending the 16th Review from 2020 to no later than December 15, 2023.
- Remaining committed to ensuring the primary role of quotas in IMF resources.
- Expecting that any adjustment in quota shares would likely result in increases in the quota shares of dynamic economies in line with their relative positions in the world economy and hence likely in the share of emerging market and developing countries as a whole, while protecting the voice and representation of the poorest members.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva:
- “These decisions by the IMF’s Executive Board represent a milestone in implementing the package of actions on resources and governance reform that were endorsed by the membership at the Annual Meetings. They will help secure the Fund’s US$1 trillion in lending resources and its crucial role at the center of the global financial safety net.”
- “This is another strong signal of the membership’s commitment to ensure that the IMF will continue to have sufficient resources to provide full confidence that it can adequately support its membership, and that governance reform will continue under the 16th General Review of Quotas.”

NAB doubling and related amendments require domestic approvals and consents from NAB participants before becoming effective.
Targeted effectiveness date for NAB changes: January 1, 2021.
16th Review timeline: to be completed no later than December 15, 2023.

IMF Press Release No. 20/10 — January 17, 2020