IMF Gives Ethiopia and Other Members Until November to Approve 50% Quota Increas

Betegbar Yaregal

#EBR_News Aug 29, 2026

Ethiopia’s standing at the International Monetary Fund is back in focus as the Fund’s Executive Board has pushed back the deadline for member countries to formally consent to a landmark 50 percent increase in IMF quotas, giving Addis Ababa and other members until 15 November 2026 to sign off on a reform years in the making. Even as Ethiopia continues to draw down significant sums under its own four-year reform programme with the Fund.

According to IMF records, Ethiopia currently holds a quota of 300.7 million SDRs, equivalent to about 0.06 percent of the Fund’s total resources, giving it 4,459 votes, or 0.09 percent of overall voting power.

The quota increase was approved by the Board of Governors in December 2023 under the 16th General Review of Quotas. It would raise the Fund’s permanent capital base by 50 percent, from roughly 476.4 billion SDRs to about 715.7 billion SDRs, equivalent to around 960 billion USD, while reducing the Fund’s reliance on temporary borrowed resources.

The increase is equi proportional, meaning each member’s quota rises by the same percentage, so relative voting shares are not expected to shift significantly once it takes effect. The Fund said the 15 November cut-off is itself an extension of an earlier May 2026 deadline, reflecting how many member governments still need domestic ratification before consenting.

Within the Fund’s governance structure, Ethiopia does not sit on the 25-member Executive Board alone. It is represented, alongside 16 other African countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, in a constituency led by Executive Director Regis Olivier N’Sonde, which together commands 70,549 votes, or 1.40 percent of total Fund voting power.

By comparison, the United States alone holds 17.42 percent of quota and 16.49 percent of votes, an effective veto over major Fund decisions. Ethiopia’s Finance Minister, Ahmed Shide, was among officials from the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four who in April 2026 called for the timely completion of the 16th review, while also welcoming newly agreed principles to steer the Fund’s next quota review.

Beyond the governance debate, Ethiopia’s practical stake in the IMF is considerable. The Fund’s Executive Board completed the fifth review of Ethiopia’s Extended Credit Facility arrangement on 1 July 2026, releasing an immediate disbursement of about 464 million USD, or 342.05 million SDRs.

The completion of that review brought total disbursements under the arrangement to about 2.647 billion USD, out of a 48-month programme worth roughly 3.4 billion USD approved in July 2024, a sum equivalent to 850 percent of Ethiopia’s IMF quota.

The IMF said Ethiopia’s macroeconomic performance under the programme has been strong, citing solid export growth, improved revenue mobilization and reserve accumulation, while noting that authorities continue working on debt restructuring.

The Fund also flagged the war in the Middle East as a significant external shock, particularly through higher import fuel prices, and said around 200 million USD of the programme’s resources would be brought forward, or “rephased,” to ease near-term financing pressure linked to the conflict.