Washington, DC—On April 18, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the 2026-28 financial years (FY26-28) medium-term budget. While proving resilient in the post-pandemic period, the global economy is at a pivotal juncture amidst transformations in the economic landscape and shifting policy priorities around the world. Reflecting this complex economic backdrop, member countries continue to look to the IMF for support across the range of its operations.
While the issues that the Fund has been called on to address have become increasingly complex over the years, the Fund's budget is roughly the same in real terms as it was two decades ago, reflecting the Fund's longstanding emphasis on budget discipline. In the current context, budget management remains challenging given elevated demands and high budget execution rates, requiring difficult tradeoffs. In this context, the Board emphasized the importance of continued prudent stewardship of members' resources and continued reprioritization to ensure that the Fund can keep responding with agility to the needs of its membership.
The approved net administrative budget for FY26 (May 1, 2025–April 30, 2026) totals US$1,551.7 million, consistent with projected income and the path for the precautionary balances target. The maximum amount of unused budget resources that can be carried forward from previous years will be reduced from 5 to 4 percent in FY26, with this level expected to decline further to 3 percent in FY27.
The FY26 capital budget is set at US$132.5 million and will support both facilities-related needs and IT-intensive investments, supporting end-of-life facilities replacements, field office support, ongoing IT-intensive modernization and legacy replacements, as well as investment in Artificial Intelligence and in the Fund's cyber-security posture.
Additional information can be found in the staff paper on the FY26-28 Medium-Term Budget.
