The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Belgium signed two agreements today for a total contribution of €4.2 million (around US$5.8 million) to enhance their cooperation in capacity building, with a special focus on Belgium’s partner countries in Africa. Part of the funding represents an increased contribution to the Tax Policy and Administration Topical Trust Fund, to which Belgium becomes a lead donor.

“We are very pleased to further strengthen cooperation between the Belgian Development Cooperation and the IMF. These contributions allow us to plan and implement even better the medium-term capacity building activities that are so crucial to fragile states and low-income countries,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Minouche Shafik said after signing the agreements at a ceremony during the IMF’s Annual Meetings in Washington D.C.

“We strongly believe that a sound macro-economic environment is a precursor for development, particularly in fragile states,” said Mr. Peter Moors, Director General for Development Cooperation at Belgium’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, who signed on behalf of Belgium. “We therefore value the expertise the IMF is bringing to Belgium’s partner countries both through technical assistance and training.”

The agreements scale up capacity-building support from Belgium, which has already committed €5.6 million (around US$6.9 million) since 2007 toward IMF technical assistance and training in Africa in the IMF’s core areas of expertise, including financial sector stability; fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies; and macroeconomic and financial statistics.