While at the beginning of 2016 the quota budget doubled, with the entry into force of the 14th review rate, the credits borrowed under the new credit agreements (NAB) were at the same time withdrawn. As a result, the composition of the funds (from NAB to the quota) has not changed substantially within the overall framework of the Fund`s resources. In the meantime, the Fund`s bilateral 2012 credit contracts expired in mid-October 2016 and without these resources, the Fund`s credit capacity would have declined sharply, undermining confidence that the Fund would still be able to meet the needs of our membership. In this context, the Board of Directors agreed on 29 August 2016 on a new framework to maintain temporary access to bilateral bonds. While recognizing that the Fund is and must remain a quota-based institution, the Commission recognized that ensuring wider access to temporary bilateral loans under the 2016 credit contracts was the most practical short-term option to maintain the Fund`s overall borrowing capacity amid increased uncertainty and risk in the global economy. In March 2020, the Board of Directors approved a new round of bilateral borrowing to implement these agreements. The new framework is broadly in line with what was agreed in 2016 for the current BBA. The new BBA will come into force on 1 January 2021 and will have an initial term of three years until the end of 2023, renewable for an additional year until the end of 2024, with the agreement of the creditors. Bilateral resources are a third line of defence after the substantial depletion of NAB`s quotas and resources. In this context, at the end of August 2016, the Board of Directors approved continued access to new bilateral loans under a new framework (the 2016 credit contracts) that draws closely on the terms of the 2012 line of credit and provides that creditors who issue 85% of the total amount of the loan under the new agreements vote in favour of activation.

According to the IMF, the new framework is broadly the same as in 2016 for agreements that allow the most prosperous IMF member countries to lend directly to countries in need. It extends the Fund`s bilateral lending agreements from December 2020 until the end of 2023, with the possibility of a one-year extension until the end of 2024. (Report by David Lawder and Andrea Shalal Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) With the 2016 credit contracts, we are striving to maintain access to bilateral bond funds from the 2012 agreements, while gaining new participants, in order to build confidence that the Fund has the resources available to meet the needs of members. G20 leaders support this goal of maintaining the IMF`s current lending capacity, and the new line of credit approved by the Executive Board in August 2016 was decisive in achieving this goal.