IMF Gold Campaign

In 2009, ONE launched a campaign to urge the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to use profits from a proposed gold sale to help the world’s poorest countries weather the financial storm brought on by the global financial crisis.

As a result, the IMF delivered a package of new assistance for low-income countries. It also increased its concessional lending capacity to poor countries to US$17 billion through 2014. All loans to low-income countries were 0% interest until 2011 and the IMF permanently lowered interest rates after that.

What we achieved

The International Monetary Fund approved a sale of 403 metric tonnes of gold reserves, in a move likely to raise $13 billion in cash to replenish its coffers for lending to low-income countries hit by the global economic downturn.

What we did

We launched a petition to the IMF managing director, which received 50,000 signatures from ONE members.
Bob Geldof met with the IMF managing director in April 2009 to present the petition.
We held a press conference with the African Development Bank at the IMF headquarters in Washington, D.C.