Press Release No. 12/144

Press Release: Joint Statement by the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on IMF Resources

April 20, 2012

The International Monetary Fund’s International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) and the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors issued the following statement today on IMF resources:

“We remain committed to take the necessary actions to secure global financial stability. We welcome the euro area members’ decisions in March to strengthen European firewalls as part of broader reform efforts and the availability of central bank swap lines. At our Joint Meeting of the IMFC and G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors today, we have reached agreement to enhance IMF resources for crisis prevention and resolution. This is the result of a broad international cooperative effort that includes a significant number of countries.

“There are firm commitments to increase resources made available to the IMF by over $430 billion in addition to the quota increase under the 2010 reform. These resources will be available for the whole membership of the IMF, and not earmarked for any particular region.

“The resources would be channeled through temporary bilateral loans and note purchase agreements to the IMF’s General Resources Account. Should it become necessary to use these resources, adequate risk mitigation features, conditionality, and adequate burden sharing among official creditors would apply, as approved by the IMF Board.

“This effort, together with the national and regional structural, fiscal, and monetary actions that have been put in place in the past months, shows the commitment of the international community to safeguard global financial stability and put the global economic recovery on a sounder footing.”