IMF approves sale of 403.3 tons of gold reserves

WASHINGTON: The IMF on Tuesday approved the sale of 403.3 tons of gold reserves as part of a financial overhaul that will allow the Fund to generate revenues from a variety of sources.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said "With this decisive endorsement, the Fund's members have once again demonstrated their support for reforming key components of the institution's framework, including its financial structure".

The sale, amounting to some 12 percent of the IMF's gold reserves, could yield around 11 billion dollars.

This would help finance a reorganization of the institution as it seeks to survive a downturn in lending to troubled countries, its main income source.

As more and more developing countries began rejecting financial aid, the IMF is trying to find new ways that can provide steady sources of income to it. The institution faces a budget shortfall of some 140 million dollars for the fiscal year 2008 that ends on April 30.