Andorra: Five Things You May Not Know About the IMF’s 190th Member

Downtown Andorra la Vella, capital of Andorra. On October 16, 2020 Andorra became the IMF’s 190th member. (photo: minemero/iStock)

By Ana Lariau and Jenny Lee                                                                                  IMF European Department

October 16, 2020

Today the IMF welcomed the Principality of Andorra as its 190^th member. Andorra—a microstate situated between France and Spain—joined the IMF when Elisenda Vives Balmaña, Ambassador of Andorra to the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and Permanent Representative of Andorra at the United Nations, signed the IMF’s Articles of Agreement at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Andorra applied for membership to the IMF in January 2020. The process, which included collecting economic information for the calculation of Andorra’s quota, was completed virtually due to the travel restrictions related to COVID-19. Several IMF departments worked together to make this happen—European, Finance, Legal, Secretary’s, and Statistics.

Membership benefits

Membership allows the Andorran government to benefit from IMF policy advice, especially as the country tackles the crisis caused by COVID-19 and develops policies for a sustained recovery. In particular, the country can now receive an annual review or “health check” of its economy by the IMF, tap technical assistance, and access IMF lending if needed.

Andorra can now also attend the IMF-World Bank Spring and Annual Meetings as a full member, where delegates from around the world meet and exchange views on the state of the global economy.

Five interesting facts