Policy Papers

March 4, 2009

Establishment of a New Framework Administered Account for Selected Fund Activities

Description: This paper proposes the approval of an instrument for the establishment of a new framework administered account to administer external financial resources for selected Fund activities (the “SFA Instrument”). The SFA Instrument is designed to provide a more flexible platform through which the Fund may attract donor resources and meet the demand for its technical assistance (TA) and other activities.

March 4, 2009

Managing Public Debt-Formulating Strategies and Strengthening Institutional Capacity

Description: In May 2007, the IMF and World Bank Boards discussed the paper "Strengthening Debt Management Practices: Lessons from Country Experiences and Issues Going Forward". In those discussions, the Boards of both institutions endorsed a public debt management (PDM) work program that was particularly focused on strengthening frameworks and capacity in low-income countries (LICs). This comprised three main elements: (i) develop a toolkit to help LICs formulate an effective Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) and apply it in 4–6 countries a year; (ii) undertake debt management performance assessments; and (iii) continue the provision of debt management and domestic market development technical assistance (TA) and advisory services to middle-income countries (MICs). This paper is a response to the Boards' request for an update on the development and implementation of that work program.

Developing a Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS)— Guidance Note for Country Authorities

Debt Management Performance Assessment Tool (DEMPA)

Developing a Medium Term Debt Management Strategy: User Guide and Analytical Tool — In March 2009, the Executive Boards of the World Bank and the IMF endorsed the Medium Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) Framework developed by IMF and World Bank staff to help countries elaborate effective debt management strategies. The MTDS framework and toolkit comprises two elements: An operational guidance note (GN) and a spreadsheet-based analytical tool (AT). The GN provides practical guidance on the process of developing an effective MTDS, describing each step involved, while the AT provides quantitative analysis to guide the MTDS decision-making process.

Notes: Prepared by a Bank-Fund staff team supervised by Udaibir S. Das (IMF) and Carlos Braga and Phillip Anderson (World Bank). The staff team consisted of Allison Holland, Peter Kunzel, Abha Prasad, Francis Rowe, Abdourahmane Sarr, and Eriko Togo

February 27, 2009

Survey of Private Sector Trade Credit Developments

Description: In response to the dearth of information on trade finance, the Fund has undertaken a survey of major advanced country and emerging market banks. The results suggest that the cost of trade finance is rising globally, but that provision is falling in emerging markets while staying stable in advanced countries, possibly reflecting structural differences in markets.

February 26, 2009

Togo - Assessment Letter for the World Bank

Description: This note provides the IMF staff assessment of recent macroeconomic developments in Togo and progress under the Fund-supported three-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program (PRGF) starting from January 2008 based on preliminary information through end-December 2008.

February 26, 2009

Changing Patterns in Low-Income Country Financing and Implications for Fund Policies on External Financing and Debt

Description: Low-income countries (LICs) face significant challenges in meeting their development objectives while maintaining a sustainable debt position. The international community’s main answer to this dilemma has been to promote recourse to concessional external resources. The Fund’s recommendations to LICs conform to this preference: the practice in Fund-supported programs in LICs has generally been to set zero limits on nonconcessional external borrowing while not restricting concessional financing, although flexibility has been applied on a case-by-case basis to allow some nonconcessional borrowing when warranted.

February 25, 2009

The Fund's Facilities and Financing Framework for Low-Income Countries

Description: This paper assesses the adequacy of the Fund’s facilities and financing framework for low-income countries (LICs) and proposes reform options. It is part of a broader review of all Fund financial instruments and is timely given the pressure the current global financial crisis is putting on LICs. It builds on previous efforts to adapt the Fund’s toolkit to the evolving needs of its LIC members, including creation of the Policy Support Instrument (PSI) and the recent modification of the Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF). This paper provides the basis for the first stage of the LIC-specific review, with a focus on: (i) gaps and overlaps in the facility architecture for LICs, (ii) design issues such as access, financing terms, and conditionality, and (iii) the concessional resource envelope and funding structure. Based on feedback from Executive Directors and further external consultation, more detailed reform proposals will be prepared in the second stage of the review.


The Fund’s Facilities and Financing Framework for Low-Income Countries—Supplementary Information
March 13, 2009

February 23, 2009

Key Trends in the 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 2 with information on documents published through December 2007. An update will continue to be issued annually to the Executive Board.

February 23, 2009

Evaluation of Technical Assistance to Post-Conflict Countries-Mozambique and Rwanda

Description: This evaluation of technical assistance (TA) in statistics covers two post-conflict countries, namely, Mozambique and Rwanda during the period 2000–08. The TA, including training, covered the broad spectrum of the Statistics Department’s (STA) program, including collaboration with the East Africa Regional Technical Assistance Center (East AFRITAC), the U. K. Department for International Development (DFID), and the Japanese-funded General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) projects, as well as TA funded directly from the IMF’s budget. The emerging lessons also provide a useful guide to future TA to non-English-speaking countries.
The evaluation is based on missions to each country and relied on responses to questionnaires, desk reviews of available data, and discussions with country authorities, donors, data users, and national officials who participated in IMF courses in statistics.

February 10, 2009

Borrowing Agreement with the Government of Japan

Description: The Prime Minister of Japan announced Japan’s willingness to lend up to $100 billion to the Fund to help overcome the current crisis in the lead up to the November 2008 summit of the Leaders of the Group of Twenty. The loan proposed by the Government of Japan would make a substantial contribution to the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the Fund’s financial resources. The Government of Japan intends that the proposed loan be used to support the Fund’s ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members in the current global financial turbulence, including to the emerging market economies that are expected to continue their roles as drivers of global growth.

February 6, 2009

Initial Lessons of the Crisis

Description: This paper summarizes the initial lessons of the financial crisis along three dimensions—regulation, macroeconomic policy, and the global architecture for stability. The focus here is not on the near-term resolution of the crisis or the long-term consequences (which must be left to other papers), but rather on prevention, bearing in mind that crises will inevitably recur. The underlying analysis is elaborated in three related staff papers to be issued separately.

Notes: Companion Papers:

Initial Lessons of the Crisis for the Global Architecture and the IMF

Lessons of the Global Crisis for Macroeconomic Policy

Lessons of the Financial Crisis for Future Regulation of Financial Institutions and Markets and for Liquidity Management