Press Release No. 24/426

IMF Executive Board Concludes Fourteenth Periodic Monitoring Report on the Status of Management Implementation Plans in response to Board-Endorsed IEO Recommendations

November 21, 2024

Washington, DC: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Fourteenth Periodic Monitoring Report (PMR) on the Status of Management Implementation Plans (MIPs) in Response to Board-Endorsed Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) Recommendations.

Since being instituted in January 2007, the PMR has been reporting on the status of implementation of Board-endorsed IEO recommendations. The Fourteenth PMR assessed the progress made over the past year on 91 actions contained in 11 MIPs. These include one new MIP issued in response to an IEO evaluation issued after the Thirteenth PMR.

The Fourteenth PMR concluded that substantial progress has been made since the last PMR, with the implementation of management actions despite intense competing work pressures. The pace of implementation observed in the Fourteenth PMR, with the closure of 49 actions, was more than double that of previous PMR (24 closed actions) and much higher than that of the pre-pandemic average of 17 closed actions. Strong progress has been made on actions contained in the MIPs in response to IEO Evaluations on the IMF’s Emergency Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the IMF and Capacity Development, IMF Engagement with Small Developing States, and Behind the Scenes with Data at the IMF.

Progress has been somewhat slower in actions in response to the IMF Advice on Capital Flows, although work is advancing on all these fronts. The pilot for the development of the slippages framework continues to progress and a recommendation to move forward with the slippages framework on a more permanent basis will be issued following the full implementation of the pilot MIP.

Executive Board Assessment[1]

Executive Directors welcomed the opportunity to discuss the Fourteenth Periodic Monitoring Report (PMR) on the Status of Management Implementation Plans (MIPs) in Response to Board-Endorsed Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) Recommendations, and broadly endorsed the assessment contained in the PMR.

Directors appreciated the faster pace of implementation of management actions since the last PMR, which they noted was more than double that of the previous PMR and much higher than that of the pre-pandemic average. They also acknowledged that the actions implemented are strategic in nature as opposed to operational or tactical. Directors took note that several of the remaining open actions depend on the implementation of some important reviews/key steps that are expected to be completed over the next twelve months. Directors also stressed that prioritization of implementation efforts will be key to maintain the high pace of implementation in an environment characterized by elevated workloads and multiple demands on Fund staff.

Directors welcomed the return to the pre-pandemic norm by broadening the definition of overdue actions and ending the one-year grace period. They stressed the need for additional progress in closing overdue actions, particularly relating to advice on capital flows, social protection, collaboration with the World Bank on macro-structural issues, and growth and adjustment in IMF-supported programs. Most Directors called for a redoubling of efforts to raise the share of women and nationals from underrepresented regions at senior levels. A number of Directors also emphasized the importance of further reducing mission chief and country team turnover in Small Developing States. A number of Directors saw merit in the IEO’s suggestion to reformulate management actions related to the creation of an expert track, in order to monitor instead progress through the planned improvement of the current specialist economist framework. The point was also made that a holistic HR review could be needed to determine the best tool to enhance the environment for capacity development personnel.

On the slippages framework, Directors took note that since there have been no actual slippages of the implementation of actions envisaged in the piloted MIP on the “IMF’s Emergency Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic”, no update of the initial risk assessment is necessary at this stage. They also noted that a recommendation to move forward with the slippages framework on a more permanent basis will be issued following the full implementation of the pilot MIP.

[1] At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chairman of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country's authorities. An explanation of any qualifiers used in summings up can be found here: http://www.IMF.org/external/np/sec/misc/qualifiers.htm.