The IMF's resources come mainly from the money that countries pay as their capital subscription when they become members.

Quotas broadly reflect the size of each member's economy: the larger a country's economy in terms of output and the larger and more variable its trade, the larger its quota tends to be. For example, the world's biggest economy, the United States, has the largest quota in the IMF. Quotas, together with the equal number of basic votes each member has, determine countries' voting power. They also help determine how much countries can borrow from the IMF and their share in allocations of special drawing rights or SDRs (the reserve currency created by the IMF in 1969).

Countries pay 25 percent of their quota subscriptions in SDRs or major currencies, such as U.S. dollars, euros, pounds sterling, or Japanese yen. They pay the remaining 75 percent in their own currencies.

Under a quota and voice reform approved in April 2008, the IMF's member countries agreed that the quotas of dynamic economies, many of which are emerging market countries, should be increased. They also agreed that future reviews should consider adjustments to quotas to ensure that members' quota shares reflect their relative positions in the world economy. As of end-August 2009, IMF's total quotas stood at SDR 217.4 billion (about $325 billion).

Quotas are reviewed every five years and can be increased when deemed necessary by the Board of Governors. At the conclusion of the Thirteenth General Review in 2008, it was determined that no general quota increase was necessary.

In 2009, the G-20 agreed that the Fund should bring forward the timetable for the next general quota increase. The next general review was originally scheduled to be completed by 2013. The agreement now is that it would be completed by January 2011, two years ahead of schedule. The general quota review provides an opportunity to increase the Fund’s general resources and would also provide scope for a further rebalancing of quota and voting shares toward dynamic emerging markets and other economies.