Country Reports
2022
November 4, 2022
Republic of Moldova: Technical Assistance Report-Consumer Price Index Mission
Description: With inflation rising, countries are taking a close look at their methods and practices for compiling the consumer price index (CPI). This technical assistance mission supported the National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova with reviewing CPI compilation methods and recommending improvements. This included updating methods for pricing transportation services, telecommunication services and rents.
November 4, 2022
Mexico: Financial Sector Assessment Program-Financial System Stability Assessment
Description: Mexico has had a robust financial system for many years. Banks have maintained high capital and liquidity buffers. However, the system provides less finance to the real economy than in peers. Mexico has experienced significant real GDP fluctuations since the Peso crisis but no major credit boom-bust cycles, given strong policy frameworks that have been further enhanced since the 2016 FSAP. The economy has strong external trade and financial linkages. These have been an important channel for transmitting global shocks. The financial system has been resilient to the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting a mix of resumption in mobility and support from domestic and global policies. Buffers in the financial system have increased further during the pandemic. The key risk confronting Mexico is the first sustained and ongoing tightening of global liquidity conditions since the Global Financial Crisis.
November 1, 2022
Bolivia: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Bolivian Authorities
Description: Supported by favorable terms-of-trade, the economy has recovered more rapidly than expected and output is now nearing pre-COVID levels, although it is expected to remain below the pre-COVID trend during the next five years. The windfall from higher prices for Bolivia’s exports of food, minerals, and natural gas has bolstered private savings, some of which has been channeled to finance the budget deficit. Despite this, ongoing monetary financing, in the context of the fixed exchange regime, continues to drain international reserves. The inflation rate has been one of the lowest in the region, in large part a result of price controls and increased subsidies for food and energy.
October 31, 2022
Peru: Technical Assistance Report-Consumer Price Index Mission
Description: This technical assistance mission collaborated with the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics in Peru to incorporate big data methods into compilation of the consumer price index (CPI). This includes both prices ingested from the websites of large retailers and data recorded through in-store checkout scanners.
October 27, 2022
Republic of Kazakhstan: Technical Assistance Report-Government Finance Statistics Mission (January 11-22, 2021)
Description: At the request of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) Republic of Kazakhstan, a technical assistance mission was conducted by the IMF’s Statistics Department (STA) to assist the Kazakhstan authorities in strengthening the compilation and dissemination of government finance statistics (GFS) and public sector debt statistics (PSDS) for decision making and providing data to the Fund for surveillance. The technical mission focused on addressing issues encountered in the annual GFS time series; assisting with the classification of the Problem Loan Fund (PLF) data for their inclusion in GFS; discussing the MoF’s opportunities and limitations in submitting PSDS; and reviewing the procedures for assigning institutional units to the general government sector (GGS) and the public sector (PS) to derive a uniformed public sector institutional table (PSIT) across all macroeconomic statistics.
October 26, 2022
Armenia: Technical Assistance Report-Quantifying Fiscal Risks from Climate Change
Description: Armenia is facing considerable fiscal risks from climate change due to increasing and highly variable temperatures. This report provides guidance on how to quantify those risks over the long term, using an empirical approach to identify the potential impact of a range of temperature scenarios on GDP and the public finances. It finds that an extreme unmitigated temperature scenario that incorporates higher year to year variability could reduce GDP by 18 percent relative to baseline, and lead to unsustainable public debt trajectory by 2070. It also finds particular exposures to climate change on the state’s balance sheet through its SOE, PPP and on lending portfolio in the energy, water and transport sectors.
October 25, 2022
Vietnam: Technical Assistance Report on Government Finance Statistics Mission (February 2022-April 2022)
Description: This technical assistance (TA) mission on Government Finance Statistics (GFS) was conducted remotely during February 2022-April 2022. The main purpose of the mission was to review the progress made by the authorities in implementing previous TA recommendations and provide further support to strengthen the compilation and dissemination of GFS in line with international standards set out in the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014).
October 25, 2022
Belarus: Technical Assistance Report-Financial Accounts and Balance Sheet Statistics Mission
Description: The remote technical assistance (TA) mission provided guidance to the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus (BelStat) on the preliminary estimates of the Financial Accounts and Balance Sheets (FABS) for 2017. The TA mission assisted with compiling the revaluation and the other changes in volume accounts to give better consistency to the financial flows and stocks and improve the reconciliation process of the FABS. BelStat is in charge of compiling the current accounts for all the institutional sectors and is starting to compile the financial accounts for which important progress has been made. To regularly compile FABS, the mission recommended that BelStat addresses the discrepancies between the net lending/borrowing from the capital and the financial account by incorporating more data sources such as government’s financial stocks and business accounting data. The TA mission also provided guidance on compiling the Financial Intermediation Services Indirectly Measured (FISIM) to get a more consistent estimate. The mission highlighted the progress made and encouraged BelStat to continue working on compiling FABS for 2017 and onwards.
October 21, 2022
Ireland: Financial Sector Assessment Program-Technical Note on Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism
Description: While domestic money laundering (ML) threats are well understood by the authorities, Ireland faces significant and increasing threats from foreign criminal proceeds. As a growing international financial center,1 Ireland is exposed to inherent transnational money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) related risks. The ML risks facing Ireland include illicit proceeds from foreign crimes (e.g., corruption, tax crimes). Retail and international banks, trust and company service providers (TCSPs),2 lawyers, and accountants are medium to high-risk for ML, while virtual asset service providers (VASPs) pose emerging risks. Brexit, the recent move of international banks to Dublin, and the COVID-19 pandemic increased the money laundering risks faced by Ireland. The Central Bank of Ireland (Central Bank) nevertheless has demonstrated a deep and robust experience in assessing and understanding their domestic ML/TF risks; however, an increased focus on risks related to transnational illicit financial flows is required. A thematic risk assessment undertaken by the Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee (AMLSC) of international ML/TF risks would enhance the authorities’ risk understanding and is key to effective response to the rapid financial sector growth. Introducing data analytics tools, including machine learning to leverage potentially available big data on cross-border payments, would allow for efficient detection of emerging risks. The results of this assessment should be published to improve the understanding of transnational ML/TF risks and feed into the anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) policy priorities going forward.
October 21, 2022
Sierra Leone: Technical Assistance Report-National Accounts Statistics Mission
Description: Regular rebasing is essential to ensure that gross domestic product (GDP) volume estimates remain relevant over the years by recording the importance of all economic activities as well as their relative prices. The base year of the actual GDP estimates of Sierra Leone is the year 2006. The new base will be the year 2018 and will provide an up-to-date and comprehensive estimate of Sierra Leone’s economic activity. At the request of the Statistics Sierra Leone (STATS SL), a technical assistance mission was conducted to provide guidance on the analyses of the source data and method used to compile the GDP data as well as to develop the Supply and Use Tables. The mission was conducted under the auspices of AFRITAC West 2, IMF.