Policy Papers

January 16, 2014

2010 Reforms and Fifteenth General Review of Quotas - Report of the Executive Board to the Board of Governors - Decision

Description: In completing the Fourteenth General Review of Quotas (hereafter the “Fourteenth Review”) and approving the Proposed Amendment on the Reform of the Executive Board (hereafter the “Board Reform Amendment”), the Board of Governors requested the Executive Board to bring forward the timetable for completion of the Fifteenth General Review of Quotas (hereafter the “Fifteenth Review”) to January 2014. The Executive Board was also requested to complete a comprehensive quota formula review by January 2013. These forward-looking elements were part of an agreed package of 2010 quota and governance reforms (hereafter the “2010 Reforms”). Each member committed to use its best efforts to complete the required steps for the effectiveness of the quota increases under the Fourteenth Review no later than the Annual Meetings in 2012

January 14, 2014

Review of the Adequacy of the Fund's Precautionary Balances

Description: This paper reviews the adequacy of the Fund’s precautionary balances, using the framework approved by the Board in 2010. The review takes place on a standard two year cycle. The paper discusses developments since the last review in 2012 and revisits several issues relating to the assessment of reserve adequacy that were discussed at that time.

December 23, 2013

Debt Limits in Fund Programs with Low-Income Countries

Description: This annotated presentation on the debt limits policy (DLP) for Fund programs with low income countries (LICs) was discussed at an informal session of the IMF Executive Board on January 10, 2014. The presentation contains a proposed new approach to the handling of external borrowing limits in such programs, building on the analysis contained in an earlier paper, discussed by the IMF Board in March 2013. The January 10 Board discussion provided staff with suggestions on how to refine their proposals, but the Board did not take a position on the merits of the proposed approach. IMF staff are to present a formal proposal to modify the IMF’s Debt Limits Policy (which covers all IMF lending programs, not merely those with low income countries) for consideration by the Fund’s Executive Board in the coming months.

November 27, 2013

Guidance Note on the Fund's Transparency Policy

Description: Provides guidance to staff on the implementation of the Fund’s Transparency Policy. The objectives of the policy include strengthening the Fund’s effectiveness by providing the public with access to Fund views and deliberations, thus informing public debate and building traction for the Fund’s advice, supporting the quality of surveillance and of programs, by subjecting the Fund to outside scrutiny, and enhancing the Fund’s legitimacy by making the institution more accountable. A Transparency Policy Decision (referred to in the remainder of this note as “the Decision”) sets out rules for the modification and publication of all Board documents. A number of changes to the Decision were adopted by the Executive Board on June 24, 2013 (See Box 1 and 2013 Review of the Fund’s Transparency Policy, May 14, 2013, Background Paper, May 14, 2013, and Supplementary Information and Revised Proposed Decisions, June 17, 2013).

Transparency at the IMF

November 18, 2013

Mandatory Financial Stability Assessments Under the Financial Sector Assessment Program - Update

Description: In September 2010, the Executive Board made financial stability assessments under the Financial Sector Assessment program (FSAP) a regular and mandatory part of bilateral surveillance under Article IV for jurisdictions with systemically important financial sectors. This decision recognized that although financial sector issues were at the core of the Fund’s surveillance mandate, the FSAP as designed in the late 1990s had severe limitations as a tool. Voluntary participation, the low frequency of assessments, and their very broad coverage (particularly in emerging market and developing countries, where assessments are typically conducted jointly with the World Bank) limited the usefulness of the FSAP for surveillance. Building on the revamp of the FSAP during the 2009 program review that delineated the institutional responsibilities of the Fund and the World Bank and defined the content of the stability assessment under the FSAP, the Executive Board took the next step in 2010 to make these stability assessments mandatory every five years for members with systemically important financial sectors.

November 18, 2013

Proposed Amendment on the Reform of the IMF Executive Board and Fourteenth General Review of Quotas--Status of Acceptances and Consents

Description: This status report reviews progress toward implementation of the 2010 Quota and Governance Reforms. It updates the status of consents to the proposed quota increases under the 14th General Review of Quotas and of acceptances of the Proposed Seventh Amendment on the Reform of the Executive Board (“Board Reform Amendment” or “Seventh Amendment”) as set out in the Board of Governors Resolution No. 66-2.

November 14, 2013

Assessing Reserve Adequacy - Further Considerations

Description: Reserves remain a critical liquidity buffer for most countries. They are generally associated with lower crisis risks (crisis prevention) as well as space for authorities to respond to shocks (crisis mitigation). While other instruments, such as official credit lines and bilateral swap lines, are also external buffers, for most countries they principally act as a complement to their official reserves. For countries with sound fundamentals and a good policy framework, reserves provide policy makers with considerable space to respond to transitory shocks. However, this space diminishes as fundamentals deteriorate and the existence of adequate reserves does not, by itself, eliminate the risk of market pressures.

November 14, 2013

Amendment to Steps to Address Excessive Delays in the Completion of Article IV Consultations or Mandatory Financial Stability Assessments

Description: In February 2012, the Executive Board adopted new procedures to address excessive delays in the completion of Article IV consultations.
These consisted of three formal steps to be applied to all members with serious delays, regardless of the reason for delay, recognizing that the obligation to consult with the Fund under Article IV applies uniformly to all members. These steps are: (i) sending a letter from the Managing Director where an Article IV consultation is delayed for more than 12 months from the expected deadline for its conclusion; (ii) publishing a list of members with Article IV consultations delayed for over 18 months; and (iii) holding an informal session to brief Executive Directors on the economic developments and policies of a member with Article IV consultations delayed for over 18 months.
While the implementation of the Decision has been relatively smooth, experience to date has led staff to believe that a modification of the Decision should be considered. In particular, the lack of leeway in the Decision regarding the notification by the Managing Director to a member whose Article IV consultation has been delayed by more than 12 months has proved to be inappropriate in some cases.

November 14, 2013

Modifications to the Current List of Financial Soundness Indicators - Background Paper

November 14, 2013

Modifications to the Current List of Financial Soundness Indicators

Description: The purpose of this paper is to inform Executive Directors on the outcomes of consultations conducted by the IMF’s Statistics Department (STA) on revising the current list of FSIs in response to the global financial crisis and the adoption of a new regulatory framework under the Basel III Accord. In addition, the G-20 Data Gaps Initiative calls on the IMF to review the FSI list (Recommendation no. 2). STA has undertaken these consultations in close collaboration with a broad-based group of national and international experts, international standard setting bodies, IMF’s relevant departments and all FSI-reporting countries and concerned international organizations.