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Nordic contributions to IMF trust fund

16 April 2010

The Norwegian government has taken to parliament a proposal for a $450 million contribution to the IMF’s poverty reduction and growth trust (PRGT). The trust fund holds resources for subsidising IMF lending facilities for low-income countries (see Update 67). The funds, if approved, could only be used for the Stand-by Credit Facility and Rapid Credit Facility but not the Extended Credit Facility, which is widely seen as a continuation of structural adjustment era lending. Jostein Hole Kobbeltvedt of NGO Norwegian Church Aid said the government should be more cautious and that “the potentially fungible nature of the trust fund remains a cause for concern.” In January, Denmark agreed to provide $305 million to the PRGT.