Press Release No. 10/33

Press Release: IMF Signs Agreement to Borrow up to €4.74 Billion from the National Bank of Belgium

February 12, 2010

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the National Bank of Belgium, the central bank of Belgium, have signed an agreement to provide the Fund with up to €4.74 billion (about US$6.4 billion). The agreement is part of a commitment made by the European Union in March 2009 to contribute up to €75 billion (then equal to about US$100 billion) to support the IMF’s lending capacity (See Press Release No. 09/82). The European Union has since committed an additional €50 billion to the Fund’s expanded New Arrangements to Borrow (see Press Release No. 09/298).

The signing of the agreement with the National Bank of Belgium means the Fund can now add these resources to those already available through agreements signed with other members. These agreements contribute toward an increase in Fund resources that was requested in April 2009 by G-20 leaders and the International Monetary and Financial Committee in order to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members in the current crisis.

Useful links:

Text of the borrowing agreement with the National Bank of Belgium:

http://www.imf.org/external/np/pp/eng/2010/021210c.pdf

Agreements bolstering lending capacity:

http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/faq/contribution.htm

Press Release 09/82 on European Union financial support for the IMF:

http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2009/pr0982.htm

IMFC Communiqué, April 25, 2009:

http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2009/pr09139.htm

April 2009 G-20 London Summit final Communiqué:

http://www.londonsummit.gov.uk/resources/en/news/15766232/communique-020409