Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 9
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
Azerbaijan has increased quota in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 160.9 million SDR ($224.34 million) to 391.7 million SDR ($546.14 million), a statement on the IMF website says.
The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries' official reserves. As of Feb. 8, the official exchange rate is 1.39427 SDR/USD.
The quota was increased as part of the 14th General Review of Quotas.
Some 44 percent (173.1 million SDR or 377.7 million manats) of Azerbaijan's quota may be placed in the national currency.
According to the IMF report, Azerbaijan has already agreed on the quota increase, but it has not yet set the date of its share payment.
As a result of increasing the quota of each of 188 IMF member-states, total contributions increased from 238.5 billion SDR ($ 329 billion) to 477 billion SDR ($659 billion).
The IMF largest member-state is the US with a quota of 82.9 billion SDR. The IMF smallest member-state is Tuvalu with a quota of 2.5 million SDR.
Quotas are denominated in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) - the IMF's unit of account.
The quota contributions are an important source of the IMF financial resources. A quota is assigned for each IMF member-state. It is broadly based on its relative position in the world economy.
The quota of the member-state determines a maximum amount of its financial commitments to the IMF and its number of votes. It also affects the country's access to the IMF financing.
When a country is joining the IMF, an initial quota is set in the same amount as the quotas of existing member-states. They are broadly comparable with it on the scale and characteristics of the economy.
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.