The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved US $ 2.7 billion in gold sales in order to help low income countries.

The board of the financial body will include the money in the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), which is a concessional lending program for the low income countries. The IMF said in a statement that the distribution of the windfall profit will only to be allowed if members have given satisfactory assurances that about 90 per cent of the distribution will be offered to the PRGT.

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said, “This is a major step towards putting our important concessional lending operations for low-income members on a sustainable footing. During the 2009 financial crisis, we were able to boost financial assistance to our low-income country members, helping them weather the storm and preserve their hard-fought gains in the battle against poverty.”

Activists estimate shows that IMF will put about $US4 billion into the PRGT from windfall gold profits after including the first installment of $US1.1 billion. The move is likely to help bring relief to some of the poorest nations in the world.

The IMF sold more than 400 tonnes of gold in 2009-2010 for helping countries and boosting its financial resources.