Abstract

Sony Kapoor examines how using IMF gold sales to fund multilateral debt cancellation could release much needed resources for meeting the millennium development goals (MDGs). He shows why multilateral debt cancellation is so critical and how the sale of IMF gold could finance it for the IMF as well as the World Bank. He addresses the concerns of the gold-producing poor countries by highlighting two distinct mechanisms by which the gold could be sold while eliminating or at least minimizing price impact. Finally, he underlines the fact that selling this gold and using its proceeds for debt cancellation would not in any way jeopardize the operations of the IMF.