Press Release No. 12/138

Press Release: Statement by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Pledges by Denmark, Norway and Sweden to Increase IMF Resources by Over US$26 Billion

April 17, 2012

Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement today:

“I warmly welcome today’s announcements by Denmark, Norway, and Sweden that they will increase their financing commitments to the IMF in a total amount of over US$26 billion. This strong support—which includes Norway’s early pledge last December—clearly demonstrates these countries’ enduring commitment to multilateralism. Ensuring that the Fund has sufficient resources to tackle crises and to promote global economic stability is in the interests of all our members.

“The financial pledges from these Nordic countries complement the Japanese authorities’ recent announcement of their intention to contribute US$60 billion in additional resources to the IMF, and the US$200 billion in pledges already received from the Euro Area. Together, they set the stage for decisive progress to be made by the time of the Spring Meeting of our global membership later this week.”

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The IMF received confirmation on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 of pledges to increased contributions from Denmark’s Nationalbank (5.3 billion euros, or about US$7.0 billion); Norway (SDR 6 billion, or about US$9.3 billion) and Sweden (of at least US$10 billion).