The IMF said the approved gross administrative budget for FY 2021, which covers all administrative expenses less receipts (primarily from external sources to help support capacity building activities and excluding lending income), has been set at $1.186 billion.

“The approved FY 2021 budget represents an unchanged resource envelope in real terms for the ninth year in a row, measured relative to the IMF’s budget deflator, with the exception of a small (0.6 percent) increase in FY 2017 to meet rising information and physical security costs. At the same time, in light of immediate crisis-related needs, the Executive Board has approved a temporary increase in the maximum amount of unused budget resources that can be carried forward from previous years from 3 to 5 percent of the underlying budget,” said the IMF statement.

The FY 2021 capital budget is set at $99 million and provides financing for building facilities and information technology capital projects, including projects to overhaul work practices and modernise digital platforms and tools.

On 27 April, the IMF’s Executive Board approved the IMF’s administrative and capital budgets for FY 2021, which has begun on 1 May, and took note of indicative budgets for FY 2022/23.

The IMF said the budget is set amid extraordinary uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, which will have a significant impact on fund operations in FY 2021, while the resource needs associated with the changing circumstances will continue to be assessed in the coming months.

In its budget statement, sent to Ahram Online, the IMF highlighted the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on real activity and markets, which have imposed extraordinary uncertainty on the global outlook.

It added that such a situation is challenging for countries that are suffering from weaker health systems and response capacity, including those with vulnerable external, fiscal, and financial sector balance sheets.

The global economy is characterised by increased uncertainty beyond the crisis, with the membership facing challenges on various fronts, including rapid technological change, rising inequality and social tensions, and the increasingly urgent call to address climate change, according to the budget statement.

The statement added that the IMF has appropriated a net administrative expenditures total amount of $1.186 billion for FY 2021, of which up to $74.7 million are to be used for the administrative expenditures of the Offices of Executive Directors, up to $6.7 million to be used for the administrative expenditures of the Independent Evaluation Office, and up to $1. 104.7 billion to be used for the fund's other administrative expenditures.

The amounts appropriated for net administrative expenditures for FY 2020 that have not been spent by 30 April are authorised to be carried forward and used for administrative expenditures in FY 2021 in a total amount of up to $69.4 million.

For capital budget, the statement showed that $98.7 million have been allocated for projects underway or beginning in FY 2021, covering information technology projects with $56.3 million and building facilities with $42.4 million.