IMF board approves changes to cut borrowing costs by 36%

WASHINGTON (AFP)

The IMF approved reforms on Friday that will lower members' borrowing costs by 36 percent and lift eight indebted countries out of the requirement to pay more to borrow money.

The suite of changes agreed to by the International Monetary Fund's executive board includes adjustments to the surcharges paid by countries with high levels of debt, like Ukraine and Argentina, the Washington-based institution announced in a statement.

The reforms, which come into effect on November 1, will raise the debt threshold at which IMF member countries start paying the surcharges, lifting eight of the countries out of the requirement to pay the additional borrowing costs, it added.

They are Benin, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Georgia, Moldova, Senegal, Sri Lanka, and Suriname.

The IMF estimates that only 11 countries will meet the requirement to pay the surcharge once the new policy begins.

Combined, the measures approved on Friday "will lower IMF borrowing costs for members by 36 percent, or about US$1.2 billion annually," the Fund's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said in a statement.

"In a challenging global environment and at a time of high interest rates, our membership has reached consensus on a comprehensive package that substantially reduces the cost of borrowing while safeguarding the IMF's financial capacity to support countries in need," she said.