Policy Papers
2012
July 26, 2012
Review of Facilities for Low-Income Countries - Supplement 1
Description: This supplement aims to assess the economic impact of the Fund’s support through its facilities for low-income countries (LICs). It relies on two complementary econometric analyses: the first investigates the longer-term impact of Fund engagement—primarily through successive medium-term programs under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and its predecessors (and more recently the Policy Support Instrument (PSI))—on economic growth and a range of other indicators and socio-economic outcomes; the second focuses on the role of IMF shock-related financing—through augmentations of ECF arrangements and short-term and emergency financing instruments—on short-term macroeconomic performance. The empirical results shed some light on two channels through which different Fund facilities may have helped LICs respond to the global financial crisis—(i) by supporting a gradual buildup of macroeconomic buffers in the decades prior to the crisis and (ii) by providing liquidity support at the height of the crisis. The combination of strong pre-crisis buffers and crisis financing allowed LICs to pursue counter-cyclical policy responses that preserved spending and facilitated a rapid recovery.
July 24, 2012
Report to the Executive Boards of the IMF and the World Bank on the New CPSS-IOSCO Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures
Description: New and revised international standards for safe and efficient Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs) were published in April 2012. The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) reviewed the existing sets of standards for FMIs and replaced them by one new set of Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures. Appendix I outlines the 24 new Principles for FMIs as well as the 5 responsibilities for authorities. FMIs facilitate the clearing, settlement, and recording of monetary and other financial transactions, such as payments, securities and derivatives contracts. The term FMI refers to payment systems (PSs) that are systemically important, central securities depositories (CSDs), securities settlement systems (SSSs), and central counterparties (CCPs). The revised standards also incorporate additional guidance for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives CCPs and trade repositories (TRs).
July 17, 2012
Key Trends in Implementation of the Fund’s Transparency Policy
Description: At the time of the 2005 review of the Fund’s transparency policy, it was agreed that information on key trends in implementation of the transparency policy would be circulated to the Board regularly, along with lists indicating the publication status of reports discussed by the Board. The set of tables provided in this report updates the last Key Trends with information on documents issued to the Board through December 2011.
July 17, 2012
Revisions to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Standard - Information Note to the Executive Board
Description: The purpose of this note is to inform the Executive Board of the amendments made to the standard on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). The Financial Action Task Force (FATF)—the standard setter for AML/CFT—adopted on February 16, 2012 a revised standard, now entitled the “International Standards on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation: the FATF Recommendations.”
July 13, 2012
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 Governance and Quota 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.
July 11, 2012
Moldova - Technical Assistance Report on Taking Compliance Management Further
Description: This report concerns the delivery of a tax administration mission to Moldova during February 8 – 21, 2012 by the Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) of the IMF as a component of implementing FAD's technical assistance strategy for Southeast Europe.
July 10, 2012
2012 Spillover Report - Background Papers
Description: This note conducts a business cycle accounting analysis for systemic economies, with an emphasis on spillover effects from macroeconomic versus financial shocks. The systemic economies under consideration are China, the Euro Area, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This analysis is based on historical decompositions of output growth derived from the estimated structural macroeconometric model of the world economy, disaggregated into thirty five national economies, documented in Vitek (2012). Within this framework, each economy is represented by interconnected real, external, monetary, fiscal, and financial sectors. Spillovers are transmitted across economies via trade, financial, and commodity price linkages.
July 9, 2012
2012 Spillover Report
Description:
Spillover reports examine the external effects of domestic policies in five systemic economies (S5), comprising China, the Euro Area, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The report aims to provide an added perspective to the policy line developed in the Article IV discussions with these entities and an input into the Fund’s broader multilateral surveillance.
Topics for this report were chosen based on consultations with officials from the S5 and selected emerging markets (Brazil, the Czech Republic, India, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, and Turkey). Each participant was asked about policy concerns and spillovers from the S5. To facilitate candor, the report does not attribute views regarding partner countries.
Rather than try to capture the full range of spillovers, this report builds on last year’s findings, focusing on the forward-looking issues raised by partners and on S5 officials’ reactions.
July 5, 2012
Report on the Incidence of Longer-Term Program Engagement
Description: Longer-term program engagement (LTPE) occurs when a member has spent at least seven of the past 10 years under Fund-supported financial arrangements.2 In response to the Executive Board’s request for periodic updates on the incidence of LTPEs, this is the thirteenth such report and provides information through June 27, 2012.
July 2, 2012
Pilot External Sector Report
Description:
This Pilot External Sector Report (ESR) provides a multilaterally consistent analysis of the external positions of major world economies. Following the recommendations of the 2011 Triennial Surveillance Review and the Managing Director’s Statement on Strengthening Surveillance, the focus of the analysis has been broadened beyond exchange rates to detailed examinations of current accounts, reserves, capital flows, and external balance sheets. It draws upon the Research Department’s past and new methods for assessing current accounts and real exchange rates (see Appendix I), and on previous IMF analytical work on exchange rates, capital flows and measures, and reserves adequacy.
Consultation on IMF External Sector Assessments