Riksbank signs new loan agreement with IMF
News The Riksbank has entered into a new loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This agreement gives the IMF the right to borrow up to the equivalent of around SEK 90 billion from the Riksbank and applies until 31 December 2020 at the latest.
In February 2017, the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament) gave its approval to the Riksbank signing a new loan agreement with the IMF concerning an amount of 7.4 billion special drawing rights, SDR, which corresponds to around SEK 90 billion. The agreement was signed by the Governor of the Riksbank Stefan Ingves and the Managing Director of the IMF Christine Lagarde, at the IMF Spring Meetings in Washington DC.
This is part of a broader initiative in which around thirty countries have signed, or are about to sign, similar agreements with the IMF. These new agreements replace the loan agreements from 2012-2013, which began to expire in October 2016. The Riksbank agrees with the IMF's assessment that the uncertain global economic situation justifies the IMF continuing to have access to credit from member countries, and without new agreements the IMF's capacity to provide loans would decline by around one third. These agreements can only be used if the IMF's ordinary capital falls below a certain level. The credit arrangements from the earlier agreements (from 2012-2013) were never used by the IMF.