Policy Papers
2013
April 22, 2013
Framework Administered Account for Selected Fund Activities: Africa Training Institute Subaccount for Selected Fund Activities
Description: In March 2009, the Fund established a new Framework Administered Account to administer external financial resources for selected Fund activities (the “SFA Instrument”).1 The financing of activities under the terms of the SFA Instrument is implemented through the establishment and operation of a subaccount within the SFA. This paper requests Executive Board approval to establish the Africa Training Institute Subaccount for Selected Fund Activities (the “Subaccount”) under the terms of the SFA Instrument.
April 20, 2013
Managing Director's Global Policy Agenda
Description: The global economy has avoided the worst, but it is by no means out of the woods, and prospects may be diverging. A three-speed global recovery is emerging. Sentiment has improved, but growth and jobs are still lagging in many places, some old risks remain and could rekindle tail risks, and new risks are arising. Policymakers must, to varying degrees, continue to nurse the recovery, repair systems damaged by the crisis, strengthen defenses against a recurrence, and anticipate new challenges from stronger expansion. In a world of interconnections, lagging policy momentum in some corners will soon affect all.
April 19, 2013
Arab Countries in Transition - Economic Outlook and Key Challenges - Deauville Partnership Ministerial Meeting
Description: Arab Countries in Transition (ACTs) continue to face high political uncertainty and social pressures. The uprisings and protests have generated the promise of a better life for 300 million people, but forthcoming elections and constitutional reform, as well as populations anxious for jobs and higher incomes, complicate policymaking for many governments. At the same time, fiscal and reserves buffers have diminished sharply, underscoring the urgent need to maintain macroeconomic stability in an environment of sluggish global growth, high commodity prices, and still impaired domestic confidence. Resolute policy action and support from the international community are required; particularly as last year’s subdued growth in the ACTs (except Libya) is expected to improve only slightly in 2013 and is overshadowed by persistent external and regional risks. It will be equally important for policymakers to move quickly on designing and implementing effective structural reforms to build dynamic and inclusive economies that generate (many) more jobs than are available today. Promoting private-sector growth and international trade, as well as attracting foreign direct investment inflows, will be key components of success. Financial assistance and technical expertise from external partners, including Transition Fund projects, can make a big difference in this endeavor.
April 18, 2013
Unconventional Monetary Policies - Recent Experiences and Prospects - Background Paper
Description: This paper provides background information to the main Board paper, “The Role and Limits of Unconventional Monetary Policy.” This paper is divided in five distinct sections, each focused on a different topic covered in the main paper, though most relate to bond purchase programs. As a result, this paper centers on the experience of the United States Federal Reserve (Fed), the Bank of England (BOE) and the Bank of Japan (BOJ), mostly leaving the European Central Bank (ECB) aside given its focus on restoring the functioning of financial markets and intermediation. Section A explores whether bond purchase programs were effective at decreasing bond yields and, if so, through which channels. Section B goes one step further in evaluating whether bond purchase programs had—or can be expected to have—significant effects on real growth and inflation. Section C studies the spillover effects of bond purchases on both advanced and emerging market economies, using very similar methods as introduced in the first section. Section D breaks from the immediate focus on bond purchases to discuss how inflation might decrease the debt burden in advanced economies, in light of possible pressures that could fall (or be perceived to fall) on central banks. Finally, Section E discusses the possible risks of exiting given the very large central bank balance sheets.
April 18, 2013
Unconventional Monetary Policies - Recent Experiences and Prospects
Description: This paper addresses three questions about unconventional monetary policies. First, what policies were tried, and with what objectives? Second, were policies effective? And third, what role might these policies continue to play in the future?
April 16, 2013
Progress Report on the Activities of the Independent Evaluation Office
Description: Since October 2012, the Executive Board has discussed two IEO evaluation reports, International Reserves—IMF Concerns and Country Perspectives on December 7, 2012, and The Role of the IMF as Trusted Advisor on February 1, 2013. The Board also discussed the External Evaluation of the IEO on March 21, 2013. In addition, the IEO advanced work on the ongoing “Assessment of Self-Evaluation in the IMF,” which will go forward to the Executive Board in coming months. Following consultations on possible topics, the IEO has also initiated evaluations on IMF forecasting, country statistics, and the IMF’s response to the global financial crisis.
April 12, 2013
Provisional Agenda for the Twenty-Seventh Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee
Description: The following is the provisional agenda for the Twenty-Seventh Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, which is to be convened at the IMF's Headquarters in Washington, D.C. on April 20, 2013.
April 11, 2013
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative - Statistical Update
Description: This report provides an update on the status of implementation of the HIPC Initiative and the MDRI over the past year. Given that most HIPCs have reached the completion point, in November 2011, the IMF and IDA Boards2 endorsed staff’s proposal to further streamline reporting of progress under the HIPC Initiative and MDRI. It was agreed that the annual HIPC Initiative/MDRI status of implementation report will be discontinued, while the core information—on debt service and poverty reducing expenditure, the cost of debt relief, creditor participation rates, and litigation against HIPCs—should continue to be made available and updated regularly on the IMF and World Bank websites.
April 11, 2013
Stocktaking the Fund’s Engagement with Regional Financing Arrangements
Description: Following the global financial crisis of 2008-09, regional financing arrangements (RFAs) have been recognized as an important layer of the global financial safety net. This paper summarizes the current landscape of RFAs, and discusses IMF-RFA coordination to date and options for enhancing cooperation going forward. In so doing, it intends to contribute to discussions underway at international fora and solicit views from the Fund and RFA memberships on how to enhance cooperation.
April 10, 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.
For the proposed quota increases under the 14th General Review of Quotas to become effective, members having not less than 70 percent of the total of quotas on November 5, 2010 must consent to the increases in their quotas and the proposed Board Reform Amendment must have entered into force.1 The proposed Board Reform Amendment enters into force once the Fund certifies that three-fifths of the members (i.e., currently 113 members) representing 85 percent of the total voting power have accepted the proposed amendment.