IMF Concludes Steps to Maintain its Lending Capacity
January 8, 2021
Washington, DC: With the support by creditors for a doubling of the IMF’s New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) and a new round of new bilateral borrowing agreements (BBAs), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has maintained its lending capacity at around US$1 trillion for the coming years. This is of particular importance in the context of increased demand for IMF resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing heightened risks.
Since the membership’s endorsement in 2019 of a package on IMF resources and governance reform, the IMF has worked closely with its creditor members.
The IMF’s New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB), the second line of defense after quota resources, have been strengthened. In January 2020, the Executive Board approved a NAB reform that included a doubling of the size of the NAB and setting a new NAB period through 2025. Creditors have since provided the necessary consents and this reform took effect as targeted on January 1, 2021. Following the effectiveness of the reform, 38 NAB participants contribute an aggregate amount of SDR 361 billion (USD 521 billion) to the Fund’s resource envelope (Table 1).
In addition, work proceeded to maintain access to bilateral borrowing agreements (BBAs) as the third line of defense. On March 30, 2020, the Executive Board approved a framework for a new round of bilateral borrowing, to succeed agreements in place through end-2020. Within this framework, a new set of agreements beyond 2020 (2020 BBAs) have been introduced to replace the 2016 BBAs, which expired at end-2020. New bilateral borrowing agreements with 42 creditors for a total of SDR 138 billion (USD 195 billion) have become effective (Table 2). [1] The 2020 BBAs have an initial term of three years through end-2023 and may be extended for one further year.
Information on NAB credit amounts and bilateral borrowing agreements is available at respective country pages and through the IMF Financial Data Query Tool at the IMF website. The latest amounts will be reflected in the next reporting period.
Table 1. New Arrangements to Borrow: Amounts by Creditor |
|
Participant |
Amount (in SDR billion) |
Current Participants |
360.80 |
Australia |
4.44 |
Austria |
3.64 |
Banco Central de Chile |
1.38 |
Banco de Portugal |
1.57 |
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas |
0.68 |
Bank of Israel |
0.68 |
Belgium |
7.99 |
Brazil |
8.88 |
Canada |
7.75 |
China |
31.72 |
Cyprus |
0.68 |
Danmarks Nationalbank |
3.26 |
Deutsche Bundesbank |
25.78 |
Finland |
2.27 |
France |
18.96 |
Hong Kong Monetary Authority |
0.68 |
India |
8.88 |
Italy |
13.80 |
Japan |
67.02 |
Korea |
6.69 |
Kuwait |
0.34 |
Luxembourg |
0.99 |
Malaysia |
0.68 |
Mexico |
5.08 |
National Bank of Poland |
2.57 |
Netherlands |
9.19 |
New Zealand |
0.68 |
Norway |
3.93 |
Russian Federation |
8.88 |
Saudi Arabia |
11.31 |
Singapore |
1.30 |
South Africa |
0.68 |
Spain |
6.81 |
Sveriges Riksbank |
4.51 |
Swiss National Bank |
11.08 |
Thailand |
0.68 |
United Kingdom |
18.96 |
United States |
56.40 |
Prospective Participants |
3.60 |
Greece |
1.68 |
Ireland |
1.92 |
Table 2. 2020 Bilateral Borrowing Agreements: Amounts by Creditor 1/ |
|||
Member (Creditor) |
Currency of commitment |
Amount (in billions of currency) |
|
Algeria (Bank of Algeria) | LINK | USD | 2.15 |
Australia |
SDR |
1.99 |
|
Austria (Oesterreichische Nationalbank) |
LINK |
EUR |
2.64 |
Belgium (National Bank of Belgium) |
EUR |
4.30 |
|
Brazil (Banco Central do Brasil) |
USD |
3.90 |
|
Brunei Darussalam |
USD |
0.13 |
|
Canada |
SDR |
3.53 |
|
Chile (Central Bank of Chile) |
SDR |
0.27 |
|
China (People's Bank of China) |
USD |
21.22 |
|
Czech Republic (Czech National Bank) |
EUR |
0.65 |
|
Denmark (Danmarks Nationalbank) |
EUR |
2.28 |
|
Estonia (Eesti Pank) |
EUR |
0.16 |
|
Finland (Bank of Finland) |
EUR |
1.62 |
|
France |
EUR |
13.53 |
|
Germany (Deutsche Bundesbank) |
EUR |
17.88 |
|
India (Reserve Bank of India) |
USD |
3.90 |
|
Italy (Bank of Italy) |
EUR |
10.12 |
|
Japan |
USD |
25.85 |
|
Korea |
USD |
6.46 |
|
Lithuania (Bank of Lithuania) |
EUR |
0.30 |
|
Luxembourg |
EUR |
0.89 |
|
Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia) |
USD |
0.43 |
|
Malta (Central Bank of Malta) |
EUR |
0.11 |
|
Mexico (Banco de Mexico) |
USD |
4.31 |
|
Netherlands (De Nederlandsche Bank NV) |
EUR |
5.86 |
|
New Zealand |
USD |
0.43 |
|
Norway (Norges Bank) |
SDR |
2.59 |
|
Peru (Central Reserve Bank of Peru) |
SDR |
0.47 |
|
Philippines (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) | USD | 0.43 | |
Poland (Narodowy Bank Polski) |
EUR |
2.70 |
|
Russia (Central Bank of the Russian Federation) |
USD |
3.90 |
|
Saudi Arabia |
USD |
6.46 |
|
Singapore (Monetary Authority of Singapore) |
USD |
1.72 |
|
Slovak Republic |
EUR |
0.67 |
|
Slovenia (Bank of Slovenia) |
EUR |
0.39 |
|
South Africa (South African Reserve Bank) |
USD |
0.86 |
|
Spain |
EUR |
6.40 |
|
Sweden (Sveriges Riksbank) |
SDR |
3.19 |
|
Switzerland (Swiss National Bank) |
CHF |
3.66 |
|
Thailand (Bank of Thailand) |
USD |
1.72 |
|
Turkey (Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey) |
USD |
2.15 |
|
United Kingdom |
SDR |
3.95 |
|
1/ Where individual creditors consent to publication of their signed 2020 BBA, the text of the agreement is also being made available. |
IMF Communications Department
MEDIA RELATIONS
PRESS OFFICER: Wafa Amr
Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org