Press Release No. 08/121

Press Release: Joint Statement by the Executive Board and the IMF Managing Director

May 27, 2008

The IMF's Executive Board and the IMF Managing Director, Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, made the following statement on the Board's discussion on May 21, 2008 of the report by the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) on the Evaluation of Aspects of IMF Corporate Governance-Including the Role of the Executive Board:

"The Executive Board and Management welcome the IEO report as a very useful contribution to their efforts to help strengthen the Fund's governance. The IMF has moved positively to undertake this kind of assessment-a move that places the Fund at the forefront of multilateral organizations.

The IEO report is part of an ongoing process to strengthen the IMF's governance framework. It builds upon the recently approved reforms of quotas and voice now being implemented, and makes recommendations for further strengthening the institution's governance.

In particular, the report has raised important questions in the following key areas:

• How to increase clarity on the respective roles of the IMF's different governance bodies;
• How to ensure effective ministerial and Executive Board involvement in the institution's decision-making processes;
• How to strengthen the framework of management accountability, recognizing that this is an area where work is already underway.

It is important to recognize that many of the issues raised by the report are complex, interrelated, and need to be discussed holistically. They will take time to address.

The report's findings should thus be seen as the beginning of a broader discussion.

This discussion will require the engagement of all parties at many different levels-involving not only the Executive Board and Management, but also the Fund's membership and other stakeholders more broadly.

The Executive Directors and Management have welcomed the opportunity to take this important discussion forward. We had a productive initial discussion of the issues raised by the report. We are committed to working together in the coming months to build on this discussion with a view to developing broadly shared ideas among the membership that will enable us to advance further in building a stronger more effective IMF."