The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board has completed its 2024 Comprehensive Review of the General Resources Account (GRA) Access Limits. The last review occurred in February 2016, setting an annual limit of 145 percent and a cumulative limit of 435 percent of quotas. These limits were temporarily adjusted during the COVID-19 pandemic and following recent geopolitical conflicts.
In the latest review, the Board decided to establish new limits on overall annual and cumulative access to GRA resources at 200 and 600 percent of current quotas, respectively. This decision aims to maintain stability relative to temporary access limits approved in March 2023 and extended in March 2024, which are set to expire at the end of this year.
The Board also made decisions to preserve the nominal special drawing rights (SDR) value of various quota-based thresholds, including those for the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST). Once conditions for a quota increase under the 16th General Review of Quotas (GRQ) are met, these thresholds will be reduced by one-third. This approach aligns with previous reviews endorsed by the Executive Board, ensuring stability, clarity for Fund-supported programs, simplicity, and consistency within the IMF's lending framework.
Executive Directors expressed support for maintaining access limits as part of the Fund’s risk management framework. They emphasized that these limits provide confidence about financing scales while safeguarding resources. Directors noted that overall GRA access limits are not ceilings but serve as thresholds for enhanced scrutiny.
Directors largely supported setting overall GRA annual and cumulative access at 200 and 600 percent of current quotas while keeping other limits unchanged. The decision maintains temporary access limits expiring at year-end. Most Directors agreed that these proposed limits balance mitigating erosion since 2016 against macroeconomic aggregates with maintaining risk safeguards. However, some preferred higher limits to fully offset erosion.
There was broad support for automatically adjusting GRA access limits when conditions for GRQ effectiveness are met. Limits will be divided by 1.5 with rounding adjustments for simplicity. This approach is consistent with recent reviews such as those on Charges and Surcharge Policy. Nonetheless, concerns were raised about potential delays in meeting GRQ conditions affecting real-term access erosion.
The next Comprehensive Review is planned on a five-year cycle but may occur earlier if needed.