Country Reports
2020
April 20, 2020
The Gambia: Requests for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility and Modification of Performance Criteria Under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for The Gambia
Description: This paper presents The Gambia’s Requests for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility and Modification of Performance Criteria Under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement. The immediate challenge is to contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), strengthen medical care, implement the social distancing and other containment measures, and mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic, especially on the most vulnerable. It is important to establish appropriate criteria and reporting requirements for the use of emergency spending and ensure that COVID-related operations and outlays undergo a full independent audit to enhance transparency. In order to safeguard debt sustainability, the authorities are encouraged to seek additional grant financing for emergency spending. The Central Bank of The Gambia should continue to monitor developments in the financial sector, to ensure adequate liquidity and oversight, while avoiding a blanket weakening of supervisory standards. A strengthening of market surveillance under the existing regulations will help detect and address appropriately any weakening of banks’ foreign exchange positions. Maintaining a flexible exchange rate will help absorb balance-of-payments shocks.
April 20, 2020
Haiti: Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Haiti
Description: This paper discusses Haiti’s Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses a major challenge for Haiti, a country in a fragile situation with very limited healthcare services, just emerging from two years of socio-political instability and worsening economic hardship. Measures are being taken by the government to stop the spread of the virus and to cushion the economic impact of the shock. IMF emergency support under the Rapid Credit Facility will help fill the balance of payments gap and create fiscal space for essential health expenditures, income support to workers, and cash and in-kind transfers to households. In order to address the crisis, scarce budgetary resources will need to be allocated to critical spending on disease containment and increased social assistance to the most vulnerable. In order to ensure the appropriate use of emergency financing, the authorities should prepare monthly budget execution reports on COVID-19 expenditures and undertake an ex-post financial and operational audit of COVID-related operations.
April 20, 2020
Haiti: 2019 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Haiti
Description: This 2019 Article IV Consultation discusses that driven by popular frustration with high levels of corruption and inequality, Haiti has been experiencing a protracted political crisis and prolonged civil unrest. The baseline scenario assumes some stabilization in the political situation by early 2020 but no major political or economic reforms. This would allow growth to recover only gradually and in the absence of sustained implementation of good policies and structural reforms, potential growth would remain low at about 1.4 percent over the medium term. Downside risks, both domestic and external, remain elevated. A prolongation of political instability, extreme natural disaster, drop in remittances, and/or a contraction in exports because of trade tensions would worsen the outlook, particularly given the absence of buffers and fragile social conditions. The challenge is to stabilize the macroeconomic situation in an unstable political context. The IMF Staff encourages the authorities to continue their efforts to contain the fiscal deficit and its monetary financing by the central bank. Improving domestic revenue collection and redirecting current spending would help create space for much needed social and capital expenditures. Together with steps to strengthen the central bank’s autonomy and legal framework, this would help reduce fiscal dominance.
April 20, 2020
Republic of Korea: Financial System Stability Assessment and Press Release for the Republic of Korea
Description: This paper presents Financial System Stability Assessment (FSSA) with the Republic of Korea. The Korean authorities have continued their efforts at upgrading the prudential, legal, and supervisory framework for the financial sector, and keeping up with international standards and practices in other G20 jurisdictions. The authorities have been strengthening the system with micro and macroprudential measures against vulnerabilities, strengthening the crisis management framework, and upgrading the prudential and legal framework. The FSSA suggests moving toward a more forward-looking monitoring and systemic risk identification mechanism. The reliability of various stress tests could be augmented with advanced methods, system-wide monitoring, and testing the overall leverage related to residential properties, households’ resilience to adverse shocks, and sovereign contingent liabilities. Stronger focus is required on systemic risks emanating from securities market activities that can amplify contagion, including sudden redemption and liquidity pressures in the funds and asset management industry.
April 20, 2020
Haiti: Selected Issues
Description: This Selected Issues paper focuses on Haiti near and medium-term challenges and policy priorities and was prepared before coronavirus disease 2019 became a global pandemic and resulted in unprecedented strains in global trade, commodity and financial markets. The outbreak has greatly amplified uncertainty and downside risks around the outlook. The IMF staff is closely monitoring the situation and will continue to work on assessing its impact and the related policy response in Haiti and globally. Income inequality can hamper economic growth and development. Currently, the financial needs of the rural poor are sustained by microfinance institutions, financial cooperatives, humanitarian programs, and remittance providers. Greater financial inclusion could also be reached via solutions outside of traditional banking practices, including through fintech initiatives. In addition to being a moral imperative, addressing gender inequality is necessary for generating broad-based and inclusive growth. Formal employment opportunities for women need to be expanded. A good start would be to implement the 30 percent quota reserved for women in public-sector appointments, which was introduced in 2012 but never enforced.
April 17, 2020
Pakistan: Request for Purchase Under the Rapid Financing Instrument-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Pakistan
Description: This paper highlights Pakistan’s Request for Purchase Under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI). With the near-term outlook deteriorating sharply, the authorities have swiftly put in place measures to contain the impact of the shock and support economic activity. Crucially, health spending has been increased and social support strengthened. While uncertainty remains high, the near-term economic impact of coronavirus disease 2019 is expected to be significant, giving rise to large fiscal and external financing needs. The IMF support will help to provide a backstop against the decline in international reserves and provide financing to the budget for targeted and temporary spending increases aimed at containing the pandemic and mitigating its economic impact. In response to the crisis, the government of Pakistan has taken swift action to halt the community spread of the virus and introduced an economic stimulus package aimed at accommodating the spending needed to tackle the health emergency and supporting economic activity.
April 17, 2020
Colombia: 2020 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Colombia
Description: This 2020 Article IV Consultation with Colombia highlights that with the disruptions associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and with lower oil prices, real gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to contract by 2.4 percent in 2020. In the near term, disruptions associated, directly and indirectly, with the pandemic are expected to generate a recession of -2.4 percent in 2020. Weaker domestic demand from the shutdown efforts is expected to partially offset lower external demand and commodity prices, such that the current account deficit is projected to rise to 4.7 percent of GDP. In the wake of exceptional shocks and risks, recent monetary easing is welcomed by the IMF and accommodation should continue to support the economy if underlying inflation and inflation expectations remain moderate. Continued liquidity support should be provided as required, and available capital buffers in the banking system should be used as needed. All available space under the fiscal rule can be used to meet unforeseen health expenditures and for countercyclical spending to further support the economy through recession.
April 17, 2020
Colombia: Selected Issues
Description: This Selected Issues paper focuses on Venezuelan migration and the labor market. Over 2 million migrants have crossed the border from Venezuela and continue to join Colombia’s labor market—which remains weak overall with rising unemployment and falling participation. There is so far little evidence of displacement effects on account of immigration, however, as the Colombian informal sector has capably absorbed most of the migrant inflow. A more granular view of Colombia’s local labor markets does not show weaker employment outcomes in those that have received the most migrants. However, with many of these workers being highly skilled and attached to the informal sector, evidence of labor misallocation highlights the need to continue integration policies. The government is conducting efforts to accelerate the validation of Venezuelan degrees for easing the integration of professional migrants and high-school educated migrants who wish to continue their university studies in Colombia.
April 17, 2020
Sierra Leone: 2019 Article IV Consultation, Second Review Under the Extended Credit Facility Credit Facility Arrangement, Request for a Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion, and Financing Assurances Review
Description: This paper discusses Sierra Leone’s 2019 Article IV Consultation, Second Review Under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement, Request for a Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion. Sierra Leone continued to make good progress under the IMF-supported program. While the program’s medium-term goals remain appropriate to enable future growth and development, the dramatic onset of the global coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic poses significant near-term risks. Combating the economic fallout of the crisis and protecting the health of Sierra Leoneans should be the immediate priority. The authorities’ cautious fiscal policy has been important. They have made commendable progress in mobilizing domestic revenue and prudent execution of budgeted expenditures. This has stabilized domestic borrowing needs and allowed inflation pressures to ease. Managing fiscal risks and securing debt sustainability remain the medium-term priority. Continued revenue mobilization will require both tax administration and policy reforms. Deeper public financial management reforms will further improve budget planning and execution, including preventing new arrears. A strategic plan for the two state-owned banks will be instrumental in addressing underlying fiscal risks.
April 17, 2020
Sierra Leone: Selected Issues
Description: This Selected Issues paper on Sierra Leone shows that boosting education and its quality for all children yields substantial macroeconomic gains. While investments in the sector will take time to yield results, the potential gains provide ample motivation for sustained, multi-pronged policy interventions along the lines highlighted in the following paragraphs. Equalizing access to education emerges as a critical goal for prosperity that is shared fairly across the population. Attaining free secondary education for all is a critical long-run objective. With limited fiscal space and vast challenges in the sector, evidence-based prioritizing, sequencing and targeting of policies is critical. Careful monitoring of education spending and its impacts will help reassess programs and priorities going forward. Enhancing the governance of the sector to ensure that spending is well-aligned with needs in the various levels is also important. Tackling the education challenge will require coordinated work to overcome hurdles in several sectors. Several factors currently within and beyond the education sector constrain efforts that could effectively reap the economic benefits from education. The results indicate the macroeconomic benefits of education could be substantial, in the order of up to 40 percent of gross domestic product in the long run.