Policy Papers

October 9, 2018

Provisional Agenda for the Thirty-Eighth Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee

October 4, 2018

Implementation Plan in Response to the Board-Endorsed Recommendations for the IEO Evaluation Report—"The IMF and Fragile States"

Description: This management implementation plan (MIP) proposes actions to advance the Board-endorsed recommendations of the IEO evaluation “The IMF and Fragile States.” The actions outlined below would have resource implications. While some can be covered by reallocating resources or are already in the Work Program, others may require temporary funding; a review of staffing allocations to countries in fragile and conflict situations (FCS) might call for new permanent resources. The actions are broad in scope and self-reinforcing in effect if adopted as a package. They include:
- Message of high-level commitment: Reflecting the actions of this MIP, a Management statement underscoring a strengthened institutional commitment to support FCS accompanies the MIP for Executive Board and IMFC endorsement.
- An effective institutional mechanism: A high-level interdepartmental FCS Committee that reports to and seeks guidance in a formal meeting with management twice a year, will be established. The Committee will be tasked to analyze internal and external coordination issues in FCS and propose new ways tostrengthen engagement. An interdepartmental Technical Taskforce will support the Committee and report on progress in implementing this MIP, including through a Board paper on Review of FCS Engagement at end-2020.
- Country engagement strategies: FCS teams will develop country engagement strategies that, drawing on relevant external expertise, will explicitly allow for thesocial and political context and the factors underpinning fragility; and lay the basis for full integration of capacity development (CD) with surveillance and lending.
- Providing more sustained financial support: Staff is reviewing the lending toolkit for low-income countries to provide more tailored and flexible support, including for FCS, while ensuring uniformity of treatment. Staff will report on efforts to support FCS with protracted arrears to the Fund in the upcoming reviews of overdue financial obligations.
- Practical steps to increase the impact of its CD support: Measures already in train will be complemented by the forthcoming Capacity Development (CD) Strategy Review’s assessment of initiatives to better integrate CD and Surveillance, including in FCS. Staff will also review the experience with provision of statistical and financial CD in FCS. And consideration will be given to establishing a FCS multi-donor trust fund or another suitable financing vehicle to address unmet needs for long-term experts.
- Human Resources (HR) issues: The forthcoming phase of the HR Strategy will look into strategic workforce and career planning, including recruitment, and will consider actions to ensure that the Fund has appropriate staff expertise and experience to work effectively in fragile states. This will include the introduction of a “career” playbook that provides incentives for staff to be more responsive to the needs of the Fund in FCS. Adequacy of staffing allocations to FCS missions will be reviewed to ensure evenhanded treatment of the membership. Staff training on FCS will also be stepped up.

September 30, 2018

Reinvigorating Trade and Inclusive Growth

Description: Trade integration can play a much larger role in boosting shared prosperity. The current focus on trade tensions threatens to obscure the great untapped benefits possible from further trade reform. The opportunities provided by information technology and other fundamental changes in the global economy are yet to be reflected in modern areas of trade policy, such as services and electronic commerce. Greater openness in these areas would promote competition, lift productivity, and raise living standards. In many other areas, such as the rural economy, smaller enterprises, and women’s economic empowerment, trade-related reforms are important particularly to foster more inclusive growth.  

Harnessing flexible approaches to WTO negotiations may be the key to reinvigorating global trade reform. Despite the benefits at stake—and with important exceptions such as the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement—trade reform has lagged since the early 2000s. For much of this period, governments focused their efforts in the WTO on a single negotiating approach. Now, as groups of WTO members pursue joint initiatives in several areas, attention is turning to how other negotiating approaches—including some used effectively in the past—can be leveraged so that trade once again plays its full role in driving increased global economic prosperity.  

Building greater, more durable openness—this paper’s focus—should be part of a broader effort to strengthen and reinvest in the global trading system. The system of global trade rules that has nurtured unprecedented economic growth across multiple generations faces tensions. Though only recently brought to the fore, those tensions are rooted in issues that have been left unresolved for too long. Governments need to promptly address outstanding questions involving, for example, the WTO dispute system and the reach of subsidy disciplines. Cooperative action to secure greater openness—an imperative in its own right—could also help to resolve these issues.

September 27, 2018

Statement by the Managing Director on the Independent Evaluation Office Report on Governance of the IMF: Evaluation Update

Description: I would like to thank the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) for preparing this informative update on the 2008 report on governance of the IMF. It is reassuring that the Update recognizes the significant progress made in improving efficiency, accountability, and voice of the Fund’s main governance bodies, and I concur that the remaining challenges need our continued attention and collective commitment.

September 13, 2018

Guidance Note for the Use of Third-Party Indicators in Fund Reports

Description: This note provides guidance on use of third-party indicators (TPIs) in Fund reports, in line with the policy endorsed by the Board in November 2017.

September 4, 2018

The Fund's Income Position for FY 2017 - Actual Outcome

Description: This paper reports the Fund’s income position for FY 2017 following the closing of the Fund’s accounts for the financial year and completion of the external audit. Total FY 2017 net income, including income from surcharges, amounted to SDR 1.9 billion or about SDR 258 million higher than estimated in April, reflecting mainly a larger than anticipated gain reported under IAS 19 (the accounting standard for employee benefits). 

GRA net income for FY 2017 was about SDR 1.49 billion and has been placed to the Fund’s reserves. In accordance with decisions taken in April 2017, a net transfer of currencies amounting to SDR 1.41 billion was made in August 2017 from the GRA to the Investment Account. The placement of the net income to the Fund’s reserves has further strengthened the Fund’s precautionary balances, which reached SDR 16.7 billion at the end of FY 2017.

August 6, 2018

Flexible Credit Line - Operational Guidance Note

Description: This note provides general guidance on the use of the Flexible Credit Line (FCL). After an overview of the instrument, explaining its specific nature, the operational issues are grouped into three areas:

• an outline of the process and specific steps that need to be followed if a member expresses interest in an arrangement;
• guidance on determining qualification of a member; and
• a how-to guide for determining appropriate access levels.

The note is an aid to the implementation of the policy and its underlying principles. If there is any instance in which a provision of the guidance note or its implementation conflicts with Board policy, Board policy prevails. It will be revised as needed, for example following relevant policy reviews.

August 6, 2018

Precautionary and Liquidity Line - Operational Guidance Note

Description: This note provides general guidance on the use of the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL). After an overview of the instrument, explaining its specific nature, the operational issues are grouped into five areas:

• an outline of the process and specific steps that need to be followed if a member expresses interest in an arrangement;
• guidance on access, phasing, and purchases;
• guidance on determining qualification of a member and appropriate ex-post conditionality; and
• a guide to the semi-annual review process.

The note is an aid to the implementation of the policy and its underlying principles. If there is any instance in which a provision of the guidance note or its implementation conflicts with Board policy, Board policy prevails. It will be revised as needed, for example following relevant policy reviews.

August 2, 2018

FY2018 - Output Cost Estimates and Budget Outturn

Description: The Fund continues to make efforts to maximize the use of available resources in order to deliver on the priorities and initiatives laid out in the Global Policy Agenda (GPA). The FY 18 outturn reflects reallocations and efficiency gains, as well as flexibility provided by carry forward resources.

With the number of Fund arrangements falling, the Fund’s outputs shifted from spending on lending activity to multilateral surveillance. On the input side, the structural budget was fully utilized.

This paper presents key highlights of the FY 18 outturn, including a discussion of the outputs and inputs. Details on Capacity Development (CD) are presented in Annex I.

August 1, 2018

2018 Review of Facilities for Low-Income Countries

Description: The Fund is facing strong demand for financing from low-income countries (LICs). Commodity price shocks and loose fiscal policies have contributed to rising debt levels and financing needs in many countries. Several developing states, especially smaller ones, are also increasingly vulnerable to large natural disasters. At the same time, many LICs less dependent on commodity exports have enjoyed robust growth in recent years, with more contained vulnerabilities.