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IMF LENDING
J
Strauss-Kahn (left) shakes hands after the
signing ceremony with Shoichi Nakagawa,
Japan's Minister of Finance (photo: IMF)
Injection of funds by Japan will strengthen IMF's
ability to tackle global crisis
apan
IMF seeking to double funding to $500 billion has Related Links
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provided the IMF with an additional $100 billion Watch interview with Managing
to bolster the Fund's lendable resources during Director
the current global economic and financial crisis.
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Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Shoichi IMF's world growth forecast
Nakagawa, Minister of Finance of Japan, signed the
IMF urges G-20 action
terms of Japan's $100 billion commitment on February
Gold in the IMF
13 under a borrowing agreement designed to
temporarily supplement the Fund's financial resources. Video: Strauss-Kahn thanks
Japan
The IMF said the additional funds will bolster its capacity
to provide timely and effective balance of payments
assistance to its 185 member governments.
Crisis-lending
The IMF has so far committed around $48 billion in lending to a number of economies
affected by the crisis, including Belarus, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Pakistan, Serbia, and
Ukraine. It announced a precautionary loan for El Salvador last month and an IMF team has
also been in negotiations with Turkey.
The IMF expects global growth to grind to a virtual halt in 2009, with the advanced
economies in a recession. The economic crisis has caused global trade and capital flows to
plummet.
The formal signing of the agreement in Rome, Italy, follows the IMF Executive Board's
approval of the terms on February 12, 2009. Taro Aso, Japanese Prime Minister, announced
in November 2008 that Japan would be willing to provide supplemental funding to the IMF,
to help overcome the current global crisis (see Press Release No. 08/284).
Apart from the new money from Japan, the IMF has around $200 billion in lendable
resources.
Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn wants to boost the IMF's lendable resources to
around $500 billion, both as a precaution in case the crisis gets worse and as reassurance
that the IMF can meet any eventuality. The IMF's Executive Board is considering a number of
ways to strengthen the Fund's resources, including additional borrowing from official sources.
Single-largest commitment
Strauss-Kahn, on a trip to Rome to attend a meeting of ministers from the Group of Seven
(G-7) advanced economies, said the IMF was deeply grateful for the Japanese government's
support [see video reaction].
Japan's total commitment is equivalent to about 31 percent of total Fund quotas, the capital
members put into the IMF when joining.
The initial period of the commitment by Japan is for one year, and may be extended by the
IMF for up to a total of five years if warranted by the Fund's liquidity situation and its actual
and prospective borrowing needs. Each drawing will carry interest at the interest rate on the
IMF's Special Drawing Rights, which is currently 0.62 percent.
ドミニク・ストロスカーン国際通貨基金(IMF)専務理事と日本の中川昭一財務大
臣は本日、日本による IMF への最大で 1,000 億米ドルの資金提供に関する融資取極
に署名した。同取極は IMF の融資財源を暫定的に補完するもので、これにより国際
収支上の問題に直面している加盟国に対して、IMF が適時に効果的な支援を実施す
る上での能力が強化される。
「我々は、日本政府の支援に心より感謝する」とストロスカーン専務理事は述べた。
「この度の取極は、IMF の加盟国一国による補完的な資金提供としては過去最大で
あり、日本のリーダーシップと、世界経済ならびに国際金融が直面している問題の
解決に向けた多国間協調主義的アプローチに対する、日本の継続的なコミットメン
トを明確に示すものである。他の国々に対しても日本に続き、我々の努力に対する
支援を期待したい」