Azerbaijan increases quota in IMF
By Aynur Karimova
The government of Azerbaijan has increased its quota in the International Monetary Fund from 160.9 million SDR ($224.34 million) to 391.7 million SDR ($546.14 million).
The IMF announced that Azerbaijan's quota was increased as part of the 14th General Review of Quotas.
The SDR - Special Drawing Rights - is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries' official reserves. As of February 8, the official exchange rate was 1.39427 SDR/USD.
Some 44 percent (173.1 million SDR or 377.7 million manats) of Azerbaijan’s quota may be placed in the national currency.
The IMF said that Azerbaijan has already agreed on the increase of its quota, but it has not yet set the date of its share payment.
As a result of increasing the quota of each of 188 IMF member-states, total contributions increased from 238.5 billion SDR ($329 billion) to 477 billion SDR ($659 billion).
The IMF's largest member-state is the U.S. with a quota of 82.9 billion SDR. The IMF's smallest member-state is Tuvalu with a quota of 2.5 million SDR.
Quotas are denominated in SDR, the IMF's unit of account.
Quota subscriptions are a central component of the IMF’s financial resources. Each member country of the IMF is assigned a quota, based broadly on its relative position in the world economy. This quota determines a maximum amount of the country’s financial commitments to the IMF and its number of votes. It also affects the country's access to the IMF financing.
When a country joins the IMF, it is assigned an initial quota in the same range as the quotas of existing members of broadly comparable economic size and characteristics. The IMF uses a quota formula to help assess a member’s relative position.
The amount of funding that the member-state can obtain from the IMF (its access limit) is determined on the basis of its quota. For example, a member-state can borrow up to 200 percent of its quota annually and up to 600 percent on an accrual basis a part of the agreements on the stand by loans and expanded lending. In exceptional cases, the access amount can be increased.
Azerbaijan joined the IMF in 1992. The cooperation was particularly intense in 1995-2005. During these years, Azerbaijan often used IMF’s advisory and financial assistance to support the government's economic programs.
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova
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