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Development groups have called on western governments to use $2.6bn (£1.6bn) from the sale of International Monetary Fund gold to finance a new wave of debt relief for the world's poorest nations. The IMF's board will meet in Washington on Wednesday to discuss what it should do with the profits raised from disposing of just over 400 metric tonnes of gold, one eighth of the IMF's total stock of the precious metal. When it announced the sell-off in September 2009, the IMF said the move was an important step in putting its finances on a "sound long-term footing". It added that important components of the strategy would be the creation of an endowment and a boost to concessional lending to developing nations. Tim Jones, policy officer at the Jubilee Debt Campaign, urged the big western shareholders that dominate decision-making at the IMF to use the money for debt relief. "The IMF is doing very well out of the economic crisis it helped to create, with a windfall from gold sales and profit from lending," Jones said. "Yet, many poor countries have been forced into debt through no fault of their own, whether due to disasters or the financial crisis caused by western banks. The IMF should use its excess money to cancel such debts."He said a total of 58 civil society organisations and networks from across the world have written to the governments that control the IMF, calling on them to use the windfall to cancel poor countries' debts. Signatories include Oxfam International, the International Trade Union Confederation, Action Aid International, Cafod, Save the Children and the World Development Movement.