Policy Papers
2008
October 6, 2008
Staff Guidance Note on the Application of the Joint Fund-Bank Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries
Description:
The objective of the joint Fund-Bank debt sustainability framework for low-income countries is to support LICs in their efforts to achieve their development goals without creating future debt problems. Countries that have received debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) need to be kept on a sustainable track. Under the framework, country DSAs are prepared jointly by Bank and Fund staff, with close collaboration between the two staffs on the design of the macroeconomic baseline, alternative scenarios, the debt distress rating, and the drafting of the write-up.
See the updated paper:
Staff Guidance Note on the Application of the Joint Bank-Fund Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries dated January 22, 2010
October 6, 2008
Periodic Monitoring Report on the Status of Implementation Plans in Response to Board-Endorsed IEO Recommendations
Description: This report updates the implementation status of Board-endorsed IEO recommendations since the completion of the first PMR in January 2008. In particular, it examines the implementation status for the two management implementation plans (MIPs) pertaining to the Board-endorsed IEO recommendations on IMF and Aid to Sub-Saharan Africa and IMF Exchange Rate Policy Advice: 1999-2005. It also reports on progress in implementing the outstanding recommendations from the first PMR. Although the requisite time has not elapsed since the May 2008 Board discussion of the MIP for the Board-endorsed recommendations in the IEO’s evaluation of Structural Conditionality in IMF-supported Programs, this PMR touches on aspects that have been implemented.
October 1, 2008
Nepal - Assessment Letter for the Asian Development Bank
Description: Assessment Letters or Statements may be prepared for member countries with Fund-supported programs; receiving Fund emergency assistance; with staff-monitored programs; or surveillance-only cases. They are typically produced for use by the country with multilateral or bilateral donors or creditors, in particular the World Bank and other International Financial Institutions.
September 29, 2008
Progress Report on the Activities of the Independent Evaluation Office
Description: The reports provides an update on the activities of the Independent Evaluation Office of the IMF since its last report to the IMFC in April 2008.
September 19, 2008
The Macroeconomics of Scaling-up Aid: the Cases of Benin, Niger, and Togo
Description: In September 2007, the UN Secretary General launched the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Africa Steering and Working Groups. The Steering Group brings together the leaders of multilateral institutions to identify practical steps needed for Africa to achieve the MDGs. The Managing Director of the IMF is a member of the Steering Group. The Working Group supports the Steering Group and is comprised of thematic groups in education, agriculture, health, infrastructure and trade facilitation, statistics, aid predictability, and MDG operationalization at the country level. The following three notes assess the macroeconomic implications of the spending of scaled-up aid to Benin, Niger, and Togo in line with that promised by the G-8 at Gleneagles, Scotland in 2005.
September 19, 2008
Food and Fuel Prices-Recent Developments, Macroeconomic Impact, and Policy Responses—An Update
Description: This report updates the macroeconomic assessment of the impact of global food and fuel price increases provided in the IMF June 2008 Board paper: Food and Fuel Prices—Recent Developments, Macroeconomic Impact, and Policy Response. Food and oil prices peaked in early summer—in particular, oil prices surged to levels envisaged under the most adverse scenario presented in the June paper. Against this background, the effects of higher prices on the balance of payments, budgets, and domestic prices intensified and a large group of low- and middle-income countries is experiencing a substantial weakening of their balance of payments and higher inflation. These findings reinforce the importance of adopting appropriate policies to maintain macroeconomic stability while protecting the poor.
September 16, 2008
Update on the Financing of the IMF's Concessional Assistance and Debt Relief to Low-Income Member Countries
Description: This paper provides a semi-annual review of the status of financing for Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility-Exogenous Shocks Facility (PRGF-ESF) lending, subsidization of emergency assistance to PRGF-eligible countries, and Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) debt relief. The last review was completed by the IMF Executive Board on April 21, 2008.
September 15, 2008
The Fund's Response to the 2007-08 Financial Crisis - Stocktaking and Collaboration with the Financial Stability Forum
Description:
The present financial crisis is testing the resilience of the global financial system as well as the robustness of national and multilateral policy frameworks. As requested by Executive Directors, this paper reviews recent progress in meeting these challenges, focusing on the role of the Fund and its collaboration with the Financial Stability Forum (FSF).
In concert with other international bodies, the Fund has sought to promote appropriate policy responses to the financial turmoil, including through its report on The Recent Financial Turmoil—Initial Assessment, Policy Lessons, and Implications for Fund Surveillance, in the Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) and the World Economic Outlook (WEO), as well as in recent Article IV consultations and Financial Sector Assessment Programs (FSAPs). The Fund has also responded to the International Monetary and Financial Committee’s (IMFC) call for closer collaboration with other international fora, including by supporting the implementation of policy lessons from the crisis, such as the 67 FSF recommendations issued in April 2008.
September 12, 2008
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) - Status of Implementation 2008
Description: This report provides an update on the status of implementation, impact and costs of the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). With a view to the upcoming Financing for Development meetings in Doha, the report not only reports on recent progress since mid-2007, but also on developments since the Monterrey Consensus recommendations on external debt relief.
September 8, 2008
Fuel and Food Price Subsidies - Issues and Reform Options
Description: Government price subsidies are pervasive in developed, emerging, and low-income countries. A subsidy is a form of government intervention resulting in a deviation of an actual price facing consumers and producers from a specified benchmark price. Subsidies affect consumption and production patterns as well as the distribution of resources, with important implications for the budget, expenditure composition, and long-term growth. They can and often do involve fiscal costs, but not all affect government fiscal accounts in the same way. Price subsidies have spillover effects onto prices and quantities in domestic, regional, or global markets. This paper discusses the key issues and policy options in the reform of subsidies for fossil fuels and selected food commodities, and their implications for the work of the Fund.