Policy Papers
2008
April 28, 2008
Training as Part of Capacity Building - Report on IMF Training During 2007
Description: This Report provides statistical detail on IMF training for member country officials during calendar year 2007. Section I describes the distribution of training by provider, venue, and region. Section II presents information on the courses delivered through the INS program and the distribution of that training by curriculum area. Drawing on the recently integrated database on IMF training (Box 1), it also lists the courses that IMF departments and the regional technical assistance centers delivered outside the INS program.
April 18, 2008
Training as Part of Capacity Building - Recent Initiatives and Strategic Considerations
Description:
This paper focuses on the IMF’s training program as part of the Medium–Term Strategy (MTS) for capacity building in member countries.1 It updates Executive Directors on the current features of the program, reviews the efforts that have been made in recent years to strengthen the curriculum and to enhance value for money, and considers options for boosting external financing of training through charging and increased donor contributions. The paper also provides background for addressing the following issues:
— Are the objectives of IMF training fully consistent with the broader objectives of the institution? And are these training objectives being met?
— Is Fund training efficiently organized—i.e., is the current degree of decentralization sensible?
— Are adequate evaluation and feedback mechanisms in place?
—In the absence of market signals and with a large unsatisfied demand, how can we determine the “right” volume of training and how can we assess its worth?
April 14, 2008
Review of the Fund's Income Position for FY2008 and FY2009
Description: This paper provides the basis for the annual review of the Fund’s income position, including a review of the system of special charges. The paper also sets out proposed decisions relating to the Fund’s income position for FY 2008 and FY 2009. The review takes account of the recent discussions in the Executive Board on the new income model for the Fund. The paper is structured as follows: Section II reviews the Fund’s FY 2008 income position, provides an explanation of key variances from projections, and discusses the impact of restructuring costs on the income position; Section III makes proposals for the disposition of investment income and the General Resources Account (GRA) income position; Section IV outlines updated projections and proposes a margin for the rate of charge for FY 2009; Section V provides an update on the burden sharing mechanism; and Section VI reviews special charges.
April 12, 2008
Statement by the Managing Director on Strategic Directions in the Medium-Term Budget
Description: The long view. I try never to forget that the Fund was founded at the close of the Second World War to avoid the human devastation that too often follows economic disasters. The specifics may change from one era to the next—reversals in capital flows, not war reparations; financial collapses from asset market bubbles, not hyperinflations—but the dynamic of economic shock transmitted to political and social convulsion has not changed. As we look ahead ten or twenty years beyond today’s budgetary and staffing preoccupations, we must not lose sight of the raison d’etre of the Fund: to deliver the economic analysis and multilateral collaboration that ensures financial stability and prosperity for all—and thereby avoid the tragedies that ensue when these are absent.
April 11, 2008
Update on the Financing of the Fund's Concessional Assistance and Debt Relief to Low-Income Member Countries
Description: This paper provides a semi-annual review of the status of financing for PRGFESF lending, HIPC and MDRI debt relief, and an update on the mobilization of resources for the subsidization of emergency assistance to PRGF-eligible countries. The last review was completed by the Executive Board on September 26, 2007.
April 10, 2008
Delivery of HIPC Initiative Debt Relief by Non-Paris Club Official Bilateral Creditors - Updated Table
Description: The table provides information on HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Country) Initiative debt relief provided by each non-Paris Club official bilateral creditor to post-completion point HIPCs. It tracks the HIPC Initiative debt relief granted by these creditors so far. The table is updated annually in the context of the “HIPC Initiative Status of Implementation Report.” It is also updated when creditors and debtors provide comprehensive information for updating the estimates of HIPC Initiative debt relief provided.
April 9, 2008
Report of the Managing Director to the International Monetary and Financial Committee on the IMF's Policy Agenda
Description: This paper describes the policy changes that the Fund has made since the October 2007 IMFC meeting and the ways in which we plan to refocus the Fund’s work to support our members more strongly. It also describes the steps that management, staff, and the Executive Board have agreed to put our own house in order—to reform our governance, contain our spending, and solve our income problem.
April 9, 2008
Report of the Managing Director to the International Monetary and Financial Committee on a New Income and Expenditure Framework for the International Monetary Fund
Description: The October 2007 Communiqué of the IMFC called on the Executive Board to develop specific proposals on a new income model and a new expenditure framework by the time of the 2008 Spring Meetings. On April 7, 2008, the Executive Board endorsed a new income model for the Fund and considered a new medium-term budgetary envelope for financial years 2009–11, which includes deep spending cuts, and approved administrative, restructuring, and capital budgets for financial year 2009. As a key element of this new income-expenditure framework, the Executive Board ecommended the adoption by the Board of Governors of an amendment of the Articles of Agreement to expand the Fund’s investment authority. The Executive Board’s recommendation was sent to the Board of Governors, with the voting period running through 6:00 p.m., Washington time, May 5, 2008.
April 9, 2008
The Recent Financial Turmoil - Initial Assessment, Policy Lessons, and Implications for Fund Surveillance
Description: In response to the IMFC’s October 2007 communiqué, IMF staff has sought to assess the causes of the present turbulence and draw tentative lessons in order to inform its future bilateral and multilateral surveillance work. This effort has involved close collaboration with the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) and its working groups, as well as consultation with the private sector, national authorities, standard setters, and other bodies.
April 8, 2008
Report of the Managing Director to the International Monetary and Financial Committee on IMF Quota and Voice Reform
Description: The October 2007 Communiqué of the IMFC stressed the critical importance of the implementation of the program of quota and voice reforms adopted by the Board of Governors in Singapore and called on the Executive Board to continue its work in order to allow agreement on all elements of the package by Spring 2008. On March 28, 2008, the Executive Board recommended the adoption by the Board of Governors of an important package of quota and voice reforms.