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

IMF News, September 13, 2016

Source details

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

Switzerland becomes the first partner to contribute to the new six-year phase (2016–22) of the Managing Natural Resource Wealth Fund with a financial contribution of CHF7 million (US$7.1 million).
Letter of understanding signed in Bern by 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.
The new phase has an approximate budget of US$30 million for 2016–22.

The Managing Natural Resource Wealth Fund was launched in 2011 to help countries strengthen management of their natural resource wealth.
Over the last five years, the fund has contributed to improvements in natural resource wealth management through technical assistance and training, analytical work, and diagnostic assessments.
To date the fund has supported:
- 34 projects in 19 countries
- 8 research projects
- 5 conferences/workshops

The IMF and its development partners launched Phase 2 during the annual steering committee meeting held in Washington on June 14-15, 2016.
Partners for Phase 1 are Australia, the European Commission, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, and Switzerland.

Carla Grasso (IMF Deputy Managing Director): “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.”
Raymond Furrer (Ambassador; Head of Economic Cooperation and Development, SECO): “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.”

Switzerland has contributed approximately US$71 million since 2010 to IMF capacity development activities.
Switzerland has been an early supporter of IMF multi‑partner vehicles and 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
- the Managing Natural Resource Wealth Fund

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.
Follow IMF Capacity Development on social media:
- Twitter: @IMFCapDev
- Facebook: IMFCapacityDevelopment
- Website: www.imf.org/capacitydevelopment

IMF Press Release No. 16/403 — September 13, 2016