Policy Papers
2023
December 15, 2023
Interim Review of Access Limits Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust and Initial Considerations for Access Limits under the General Resource Account
Description: The interim review on PRGT access limits follows the call from the Executive Board in March 2023 and confirmed by the IMFC in October 2023. Low-income countries (LICs) face high economic uncertainty and pressures, while grappling with limited policy space and a funding squeeze. In March 2023, access limits under the General Resources Account (GRA) were temporarily increased for 12 months to give space for countries to face such economic pressures. The IMF Executive Board emphasized the importance of the alignment of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) access limits with those of the GRA that was achieved in 2021. The Board also agreed that, once substantial progress with PRGT fundraising toward the SDR 2.3 billion first-stage target for subsidy resources agreed in 2021 has been made—with total pledges of SDR 2 billion or more—access limits under the PRGT would be reviewed at an ad hoc interim review. This target has now been reached, paving the way for the review, also called for by the IMFC during the Annual Meetings in October 2023, in a context where the LICs’ economic challenges have further increased, including due to the risk of additional negative spillovers on the global economy stemming from the current geopolitical tensions and conflicts.
December 12, 2023
Gender Diversity in The Executive Board—Interim Report of The Executive Board to The Board of Governors
Description: Greater gender diversity of the IMF’s Executive Board continues to be important to strengthen decision-making at the highest levels of the institution by bringing together different perspectives. Increasing the number of women Executive Directors and Alternate Executive Directors sends important signals about the high value the membership and the IMF place on improving diversity and to generate better outcomes. Despite the IMFC’s calls for increased gender diversity of the Executive Board, the number of women holding the position of Executive Director and Alternate Executive Director on the Executive Board has not substantially improved over time.1 It is a great concern that the proportion of women on the Executive Board has declined in recent years, as shown in the attached updated Fact Sheet.
December 11, 2023
Guidance Note on The Liberalization and Management of Capital Flows
Description: This note provides operational guidance to staff on the use of the Fund’s institutional view (IV) on the liberalization and management of capital flows. The IV establishes a framework for consistent policy advice and assessments of members’ capital flow policies when relevant for surveillance. The IV does not alter the rights and obligations of members under the Fund’s Articles of Agreement or other international agreements. The IV has no mandatory implications for the Fund’s financing role. The IV rests on the premise that capital flows are desirable as they can bring substantial benefits for countries, but they may also generate risks. Capital flow management measures (CFMs) or measures that are both CFMs and macroprudential measures (MPMs), i.e., CFM/MPMs, can be useful in certain circumstances but should not substitute for warranted macroeconomic adjustment. The IV aims to help countries reap the benefits of capital flows, while managing the associated risks in a way that preserves macroeconomic and financial stability and does not generate significant negative outward spillovers. Staff should discuss capital flows and related policies in surveillance when these are macro-critical or when spillovers from those policies significantly influence the effective operation of the international monetary system. This note combines, elaborates, and clarifies all previous IV guidance, replacing the 2013 guidance note and the 2015 note on further operational considerations. It also provides guidance on the new elements introduced in the 2022 review of the IV.
December 8, 2023
Thirteenth Periodic Monitoring Report on The Status of Management Implementation Plans in Response to Board-Endorsed IEO Recommendations
Description: Overall, progress has been made since the Twelfth PMR on actions in response to eight IEO evaluations, with the pace of implementation being faster on actions October 31, 2023 THIRTEENTH PERIODIC MONITORING REPORT 2 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND contained in the MIP in Response to the Executive Board-Endorsed Categorization of Open Actions in Management Implementation Plans. It is also worth mentioning that many open actions depend on the implementation of some important reviews/key steps that are expected to be completed in or soon after December 2023, such as the Capacity Development (CD) Strategy Review, the issuance of a new CD Guidance Note, an update of the Small Developing States Staff Guidance Note (SDS-SGN), the Operational Guidance Note (OGN) on Program Design and Conditionality, and a Board paper on Bank-Fund collaboration.
December 5, 2023
2023 Review of The Fund's Anti-Money Laundering and Combating The Financing of Terrorism Strategy—Background Papers
Description: The background papers support the stocktaking analysis and the proposed way forward for the 2023 review of the IMF's AML/CFT Strategy. The five background papers provide in-depth discussions on the following key topics: (i) illicit financial flows; (ii) the impact of money laundering in financial stability; (iii) synergies between financial integrity issues and other Fund policies and work; (iv) the Fund’s collaboration with key partners in the AML/CFT global policy architecture; and (v) stakeholders’ views of the effectiveness of the Fund’s AML/CFT engagement.
Notes:
December 5, 2023
2023 Review of The Fund’s Anti-Money Laundering and Combating The Financing of Terrorism Strategy
Description: This paper reviews the Fund’s efforts to safeguard financial integrity and proposes the way forward for the Fund’s Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Strategy. For over 20 years, the IMF has recognized that effective AML/CFT frameworks, and financial integrity more broadly, are key to the soundness and stability of the financial sector and to prevent the negative macroeconomic implications of financial crimes on the broader economy of members, progressively integrating this work across all its core functions and in a broad set of Fund policies. The paper takes stock of the implementation of the IMF's AML/CFT strategy since 2018. It also proposes deepening the integration of financial integrity issues and an enhanced focus on the macroeconomic impact of AML/CFT issues for the way forward.
November 28, 2023
Resilience and Sustainability Facility—Operational Guidance Note
Description: This note provides general guidance on the operationalization of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) for arrangement requests and reviews. The RSF complements the existing IMF lending toolkit by providing longer-term, affordable financing to members to help them address longer-term structural challenges from climate change and pandemic preparedness. The note has benefited from experience gained during early operationalization of the RSF.
November 17, 2023
The Fund’s Income Position for FY 2023— Actual Outcome
Description: This paper reports on the Fund’s income position for FY 2023 following the closing of the Fund’s accounts for the financial year and completion of the external audit. Overall net income of the General Department was SDR 1.7 billion, SDR 0.1 billion lower than estimated in April, mainly reflecting a decrease in the remeasurement gain reported under IAS 19 (the accounting standard for employee benefits) offset partly by higher-than-anticipated returns from the investment subaccounts compared with earlier projections.
November 17, 2023
Central Bank Transparency Code Review— Guidance Note
Description: This document provides guidance and practical suggestions for conducting reviews of the Central Bank Transparency Code (CBT) to IMF staff and experts conducting reviews, as well as to the central banks participating or intending to participate in the CBT review.
November 14, 2023
Central Bank Digital Currency—Initial Considerations
Description: The paper briefs the Executive Board on the initial considerations on CBDC. These cover a framework to guide countries’ CBDC exploration, as well as implications for monetary policy transmission, capital flow management measures, and financial inclusion.