Resources

Budget

In April 2024, the Executive Board approved the FY 2025 net administrative budget of $$1,501 million in FY 2025$, with indicative budgets for FY 2026 and FY 2027. Overall resources for departments increased modestly, as the final tranche of a three-year augmentation in FY 2025 was roughly matched by the continued unwinding of temporary resources.

The gross administrative budget envelope was $1,925 million in FY 2025$,, including $276 million in external reimbursements for capacity development activities. The gross budget also included $83 million in Fund-financed carryforward of unused resources from previous years and $8 million externally financed carryforward. A capital budget of $122 million was approved for use over three years to support facilities-related and IT-intensive capital projects and related cloud-based licensing costs.

Actual administrative expenditures in FY 2025 totaled $1,451 million in FY 2025 dollars, or 96.7 percent of the approved net budget and 97.5 percent for the general budget, excluding OED and IEO. Capital spending rose by 15 percent compared to FY24 to $127.3 million. The change was mainly driven by a step up in facilities-related investment to $62 million, reflecting investment in updates to HQ workspace, field offices, and lifecycle projects for the HQ buildings. IT intensive spending also rose to $65.3 million ($43.5 million in direct costs and $21.8 million in cloud-related costs. This included investments in cybersecurity and AI, upgrades of network equipment and devices, and new investments such as optimization of CD partner engagement, IT strategic portfolio management, and a data science platform.

The FY 2025–27 budget reflected continued complexity in global economic developments, driving heavy demands. The IMF continues to play a critical role in 1) helping members safeguard macroeconomic stability, rebuild buffers, and promote growth-oriented reforms and 2) bolstering international cooperation to strengthen the global financial safety net and debt architecture and to support ongoing structural transitions requiring joint action. The FY 2025–27 budget continued to be guided by principles of agility and budget discipline, reinforced by ongoing reprioritization and savings capture. It also built on strong cooperation with other institutions, ensuring it continues to focus on areas within the IMF’s mandate, even as it addresses new demands. Work to strengthen internal operations continued, focusing on both efficiency and effectiveness in meeting changing needs, where rapid technological changes are underway.

In April of 2025, the Executive Board authorized a net administrative budget for FY 2026 of $1,552 million ($1,508 million in FY 2025 dollars).Notwithstanding a modest structural top-up to supplement critical cybersecurity-related needs, overall net resourcing for departments will decline slightly, given ongoing unwinding of temporary pandemic-era resources.

Income Model, Charges, Remuneration, Burden Sharing, and Total Comprehensive Income

Income Model

The IMF generates income primarily through its lending and investing activities (Figure 3.1). Lending income is derived from the fees and charges levied on the use of credit from the General Resources Account, including service charges, and commitment fees. In addition, the use of IMF credit is subject to surcharges under certain circumstances, as noted in Part 2, and special charges in certain circumstances. The IMF’s income model also relies on investment income generated from assets in the Fixed-Income and Endowment Subaccounts of the IMF’s Investment Account. Given the public nature of the funds, the IMF’s investment policy includes, among other things, careful assessment of acceptable levels of risk, as well as safeguards to minimize actual or perceived conflicts of interest. The investment strategy was reviewed and approved by the Executive Board in January 2022.

Charges

Reflecting high levels of lending activity, charges levied on outstanding credit continue to be the IMF’s main source of income. The basic rate of charge on IMF financing comprises the SDR interest rate plus a fixed margin expressed in basis points.

The IMF also levies surcharges on large amounts of credit that exceed a defined threshold relative to a member’s quota (level-based surcharges), and they are higher when this threshold has been exceeded for a defined period of time (time-based surcharges) (Table 2.1).

In October 2024, in the context of the review of charges and the surcharge policy, the Executive Board agreed to reduce the rate of charge from 100 basis points to 60 basis points over the SDR interest rate for the remaining period of FY 2025 from November 1, 2025, and FY 2026. In April 2025, the Executive Board agreed to keep the margin at 60 basis points for FY 2026 as there were no fundamental changes to warrant any adjustment to the margin.

In addition to charges and surcharges, the IMF levies service charges, commitment fees, and special charges. A service charge of 0.5 percent is levied on each drawing from the GRA. A commitment fee is charged at the beginning of each 12-month period on amounts available for purchase under GRA arrangements during that period. The fee is refundable (except in the case of arrangements under the Short-Term Liquidity Line, for which the fee is nonrefundable) once a purchase under the arrangement during the period covered by the Fee takes place. The IMF also levies special charges on overdue repurchases or repayments, but only for the first six months a member is in arrears.

United States

Remuneration and Interest on Borrowing

On the expenditure side, the IMF pays interest (remuneration) to members on their creditor positions in the GRA (known as “remunerated reserve tranche positions”). The current rate of remuneration is equal to the SDR interest rate. The IMF also pays interest at the SDR interest rate on any outstanding borrowing under the New Arrangements to Borrow (see “Financing”).

Burden Sharing

The rates of charge and remuneration can be adjusted under a burden-sharing mechanism that distributes the cost of overdue financial obligations equally between debtor and creditor members.

Net Income Distribution and Total Comprehensive Income

GRA net income for FY 2025 amounted to SDR 2.3 billion ($3.1 billion), before the net income distribution decision and related transfer of SDR 1.38 billion ($1.81billion) from GRA resources into the Interim Placement Administered Account (IPAA) established in October 2024. Net Income reflects mainly income from strong lending activity and investment income, including a portion of the income from the Fixed-Income Subaccount and an initial Endowment Subaccount payout of US$200 million to be transferred to the GRA to meet administrative expenses. The IMF’s total comprehensive income for FY 2025, including retained income in the Investment Account was SDR 0.7 billion ($0.9 billion) and the pension-related remeasurement gain of SDR 0.3 billion ($0.4 billion) stemming from the remeasurement of the assets and liabilities of the IMF’s employee benefit plans, in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (International Accounting Standard 19, “Employee Benefits”), was SDR 3.3 billion ($4.4 billion).”

Financing

The IMF makes resources available to its members through four channels: regular (non-concessional) lending from the GRA, concessional lending from the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, and longer-term lending to support structural reforms from the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (all discussed in Part 2), as well as via the SDR Department, through which its participants can exchange their SDR holdings for freely usable currencies.

Quotas: Where the IMF Gets Its Money

The IMF’s 191 member countries provide resources for loans primarily through their payment of quotas, which, together with basic votes, also determine their voting power. Multilateral borrowing and bilateral borrowing arrangements serve as second and third lines of defense in times of crisis. These resources give the IMF access to about $1 trillion in non-concessional lending firepower to support members. Concessional lending, affordable long-term financing for longer-term structural challenges, and debt relief for low-income countries are financed through separate contribution-based trust funds.

Each member is assigned a quota based broadly on its position in the world economy. IMF quotas total SDR 476 billion (about $646 billion)¹. The value of the SDR, the IMF’s unit of account, is based on a basket of currencies (see “Special Drawing Rights” section).

The Articles of Agreement provide for periodic reviews of members’ quotas. The Board of Governors is required, at intervals of not more than five years, to conduct a General Review of Quotas and to propose any adjustments it believes appropriate. The two main issues addressed in a general review are the size of an overall quota increase and the distribution of the increase among the members. First, a general quota review allows the IMF to assess the adequacy of quotas both in terms of members’ balance of payments financing needs and in terms of the IMF’s own ability to help meet those needs. Second, a general review allows for increases in members’ quota to reflect changes in their relative positions in the world economy. The Board of Governors may also, at any other time, approve adjustments to the quotas of individual members at their request.

The process for all quota adjustments involves first a decision by the Executive Board which requires a majority of votes cast. The Executive Board’s proposal is then conveyed to the Board of Governors for a vote. Approval by the Board of Governors requires a supermajority of 85 percent of total voting power. The Board of Governors Resolutions may also contain additional effectiveness conditions for the quota adjustment, such as minimum threshold of consents by individual members to their respective quota increases. Finally, a member must consent to and pay for its individual quota increase for its new quota to become effective.

General reviews do not always result in quota increases. Seven reviews concluded that no increase in overall quotas was needed. In the other nine reviews, the overall quota increases ranged from 31 percent to 100 percent. Quota increases during general reviews have comprised one or more of three possible elements: (1) an equal proportional element distributed to all members according to their existing quota shares, (2) a selective element distributed to all members in accordance with the quota formula, and (3) an ad hoc element distributed to a subset of members according to agreed criteria.²

On November 7, 2023, the Executive Board proposed to the Board of Governors a 50 percent increase allocated to members in proportion to their current quotas (that is, an equally proportional quota increase). On December 15, 2023, the Board of Governors concluded the Sixteenth General Review of Quotas (16th Review) and approved the proposed 50 percent increase of IMF members’ quotas (SDR 238.6 billion, or $323.6 billion), which will bring total quotas to SDR 715.7 billion ($970.6 billion).

When the quota increase becomes effective, borrowed resources comprising the New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) will be reduced and the Bilateral Borrowing Agreements will be phased out. The resolution sets two general effectiveness conditions for the quota increases under the 16th Review:

• The first condition is that no quota increase under the 16th Review can become effective unless members having not less than 85 percent of total quotas on November 7, 2023, have consented in writing to the increases in their quotas. The resolution set the deadline for the IMF to receive members’ consents as November 15, 2024, and provided that the Executive Board may extend this deadline as it may determine.
• The second condition is that no quota increase under the 16th Review can become effective unless participants in the NAB have provided the consents necessary for the effectiveness of the NAB rollback.

Once these general effectiveness conditions are met, a member’s quota increase will be in effect once that member has consented to, and paid for, its quota increase. On November 8, 2024, the Executive Board extended the deadline for the IMF to receive members’ consents to the increases in their quotas under the 16th Review to May 15, 2025.³

When implemented, the increase in quotas will strengthen the quota-based nature of the IMF by reducing reliance on borrowing. The changes in the composition of lending capacity will ensure the primary role of quotas in the IMF’s lending capacity to help safeguard global financial stability and respond to members’ needs in an uncertain and shock-prone world.

Quota Payments

The conditions for implementing the doubling of quotas approved under the 14th General Review from about SDR 238.5 billion (about $323.4 billion) to SDR 477 billion (about $647 billion) were met on January 26, 2016. As of April 30, 2025, all but two IMF members had made their quota payments, accounting for more than 99 percent of the total quota increases, and total quotas stood at SDR 476 billion (about $646 billion).

Borrowing by the IMF

As noted, the IMF is a quota-based institution. However, borrowed resources continue to play a key role in supplementing quota resources through the New Arrangements to Borrow and the bilateral borrowing agreements (BBAs), serving respectively as a second and third line of defense after quotas.

The NAB is a set of credit arrangements with 40 participants, currently contributing an aggregate amount of SDR 364 billion. Once the 16th Review takes effect, the aggregate size of the NAB will be reduced to about SDR 303 billion. The current NAB period is set through the end of 2025. Renewal of the NAB for a new five-year period from January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2030, was approved by the Board on a lapse-of-time basis in July 2024. NAB resources can be activated when the IMF’s resources need to be supplemented to forestall or cope with an impairment of the international monetary system. Activation requires the consent of participants contributing at least 85 percent of the amount contributed under total credit arrangements of participants eligible to vote. The NAB was activated 10 times between April 2011 and February 2016, the most recent activation.

As noted, BBAs are intended to serve as a third line of defense after quotas and the NAB. The current (2020) round of BBAs has been in effect since January 1, 2021, with an initial term through December 31, 2023. Following an Executive Board decision in May 2023 and subsequent consent from BBA creditors, their terms were extended by one year until December 31, 2024. In the context of the 16th Review, in March 2024, the Executive Board approved, subject to creditor consent, a framework for amending, and thereby extending, the BBAs beyond the end of2024 to serve as transitional arrangements for maintaining the IMF’s lending capacity until the 16th Review quota increase become effective. As of April 30, 2025, 35 BBAs had been extended beyond the end of 2024, providing the IMF with a total credit amount equivalent to about SDR 118.5 billion. Resources under BBAs can be activated only if the amount of IMF resources otherwise available for financing has fallen below a threshold of SDR 100 billion and either the NAB has been activated or there are no available uncommitted NAB resources. Activation of BBAs requires approval by bilateral creditors representing 85 percent of the total credit amount committed.

United States

Special Drawing Rights

The SDR is an international reserve asset the IMF created in 1969 to supplement its member countries’ official reserves. It serves as the unit of accounts of the IMF and some other international organizations. The SDR is neither a currency nor a claim on the IMF. Rather, it is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. IMF members that are participants in the SDR Department (currently all members) may exchange SDRs for freely usable currencies.

The SDR’s value is currently based on a basket of five currencies: the US dollar, the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen, and the British pound. The currencies included are reviewed periodically; the most recent review of the valuation of the SDR basket was concluded in May 2022, and the updated basket went into effect August 1, 2022.

As of April 30, 2025, a total of SDR 660.7 billion (equivalent to about $896 billion) had been allocated to members, including through the August 2021 allocation of SDR 456.5 billion (equivalent to about $650 billion)—the largest allocation in history—in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To amplify the benefits of this allocation, the IMF encouraged voluntary channeling of SDRs from countries with strong external positions to countries most in need. Consistent with this recommendation, several members have channeled SDRs to support the finances of the PRGT and the RST. On May 10, 2024, the IMF’s Executive Board approved the use of SDRs for the acquisition of hybrid capital instruments issued by prescribed holders. This new use of SDRs is subject to an overall cumulative limit of SDR 15 billion to minimize liquidity risk in the SDR market. The authorization provides members with the possibility of using SDRs in the acquisition of hybrid capital instruments issued by prescribed holders—for example, multilateral development banks. The new authorized operation adds to the seven previously authorized operations, which are (1) the settlement of financial obligations, (2) loans, (3) pledges, (4) transfers as a security for performance of financial obligations, (5) swaps, (6) forward operations, and (7) donations.

Arrears to the IMF

Since June 2021, when Sudan cleared its arrears to the IMF, the IMF has had no remaining cases of protracted arrears. To prevent and resolve arrears, the IMF has in place a strengthened cooperative strategy on arrears. This strategy consists of three elements: prevention, intensified collaboration, and remedial measures. Prevention is the first line of defense against the emergence of new cases of arrears and includes, among other things, IMF surveillance of members’ economic policies, policy conditionality attached to the use of IMF resources, assessment of members’ capacity to repay, safeguards assessments of central banks of members receiving IMF resources, and technical assistance by the IMF. Intensified collaboration includes staff-monitored programs to help members in arrears establish a track record on policies and payments, leading to eventual clearance of arrears to the IMF. Last, remedial measures are applied—using an escalating timetable—to members with overdue financial obligations that do not actively cooperate with the IMF to resolve their arrears problems.

Read Next

Accountability & Transparency

The IMF ensures accountability, transparency, and ethical conduct with its 191 members through audits, committees, risk management, and public engagement.

Read More