• The International Monetary Fund on Feb 24 2012 approved a plan to distribute about $1.1 billion in profits from past gold sales to IMF member countries, with the expectation they would return the money to fund an anti-poverty loan programme.
  • Under theIMF board’s decision, the $1.1 billion in gold sales profits would be distributed once member countries have provided “satisfactory assurances” that they will return at least 90 percent, or $978 million, for the currently zero-interestloan program for low-income countries.
  • The IMF board approved a limited sale of the Fund’s gold reserves in 2008 to diversify income soures.
  • The sales carried out between October 2009 and December 2010 generated total revenue of about $14.8 billion, of which $10.6 billion was profit.
  • The Fund has already decided to place at least $6.8 billion of the profits in an endowment to diversify the IMF‘s income away from the money it earns on loans.
  • It still has not decided how to distribute another $2.7 billion in profits from the gold sales.
 
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