Federal Council approves continuation of participation in IMF's New Arrangements to Borrow
Bern, 15.02.2017 - During its meeting on 15 February 2017, the Federal Council approved continuing Switzerland's participation in the New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The NAB are part of the IMF's financial safety net, which can be activated in serious crisis situations.
In the context of the NAB, a total of 38 contracting countries or their central banks stand ready to provide the IMF with additional funds of up to CHF 250 billion. On 4 November 2016, the IMF renewed the NAB Decision for a further five years from 2017 to 2022.
The Federal Council has resolved to continue Switzerland's participation in the NAB for this period. For Switzerland, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) will continue to participate in the NAB with a maximum credit line of CHF 7.7 billion. The loans granted by the SNB to the IMF are provided without a federal guarantee.
In addition to the regular IMF resources, consisting of the quotas of member countries, the NAB resources form the IMF's financial safety net for crises that threaten the international monetary and financial system. The NAB resources can be activated only as a second line of defence, i.e. only when the regular IMF resources are insufficient for crisis resolution. The NAB were created in 1998 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis and are regularly extended.
Address for enquiries
Anne Césard, Communications, State Secretariat for International Financial Matters SIF
Tel. +41 58 462 62 91, Anne.Cesard@sif.admin.ch
Publisher
The Federal Council
https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html
Federal Department of Finance
https://www.efd.admin.ch/efd/en/home.html
