Press Release No. 25/373

Washington, DC: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved on November 7, 2025, a two-step process to bring the temporarily higher cumulative access limits (CALs) under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT)’s Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) back to pre-pandemic levels by 2028. For background on access to PRGT facilities, the IMF’s concessional lending vehicle, see IMF Support for Low-Income Countries.

The current higher CALs under the RCF exogenous shock (ES) and large natural disaster (LND) windows had been increased on a temporary basis to 150 percent (from 100 percent) and 183.33 percent (from 133.33 percent) of quota, respectively, at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Executive Board agreed to maintain the CALs at these levels through end-2026. These limits will then be reduced in two equal steps: by 25 percent of quota on January 1, 2027, followed by another 25 percent of quota reduction on January 1, 2028, restoring the CALs to their pre-pandemic levels. This decision provides a clear path for the normalization of RCF access limits while retaining adequate borrowing space for most PRGT-eligible members, in the event that they face unexpected exogenous shocks and qualify for RCF financial support.

Countries that accessed the Food Shock window under the RCF will maintain the additional 25 percent of quota added to their CAL under the RCF ES window until end-2029. This is intended to align with the repayment schedule of the RCF and ensure adequate borrowing space.

The Executive Board also adopted a decision to ensure that the new access limits are adjusted once the 16th General Review of Quotas (GRQ) takes effect, in order to broadly retain the limits in SDR terms.

The Executive Board’s decisions were taken on a lapse-of-time basis.[1]

 

[1] The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse-of-time procedure when the Board agrees that a proposal can be considered without convening formal discussions.