Policy Papers
2015
March 20, 2015
Guidance Note for Surveillance Under Article IV Consultations
Description: This note provides country teams with guidance on bilateral and multilateral surveillance in the context of Article IV consultations. It covers the following issues: Focus on stability. Stability is the organizing principle of surveillance. Article IV consultations should focus on the conduct of economic and financial policies pursued by members to promote present and prospective domestic and balance of payments stability, as well as global economic and financial stability. For the latter, Article IV consultations should discuss spillovers from members’ economic and financial policies that may significantly affect global stability, including alternative policy options that would minimize their adverse impact. Operational guidance. The note provides detailed guidance, suggestions and references in areas covered in surveillance including risks and spillovers, fiscal policy, macrofinancial and monetary policy, BOP stability, structural policies and data issues. Communication and Engagement. Effective two-way communication is key to surveillance, including with the authorities (to help staff’s advice get traction), the Executive Board (to support effective peer review), and the public and other stakeholders (to gain support for necessary policy adjustments). Surveillance messages need to be clear, concise, and focused. The Fund needs to be evenhanded, in line with the principle of uniformity of treatment, for surveillance to command the confidence of the membership. Process and formal requirements. A number of procedures, rules, and requirements are summarized in this note.
March 9, 2015
Macroeconomic Developments and Selected Issues in Small Developing States
Description: This report builds on the work in the 2013 Board paper on Fund Engagement with Small States, the 2013 background papers on Asian and Pacific small states and Caribbean small states, and the 2014 staff guidance note. It provides a deeper analysis and policy recommendations in respect of three challenges identified in these papers. Looking ahead, the paper also analyses the impact and possible policy responses to two global economic trends—lower oil prices and diverse movements in major currencies.
February 3, 2015
Review of the Role of Trade in the Work of the Fund
Description: This review follows the Board-endorsed recommendation by the IEO in 2009 to have an assessment of the Fund’s work on trade every five years. In addition to reviewing past work, this paper discusses key issues going forward towards a future trade agenda for the next five years. This reflects the need to operationalize the implications of the changing trade landscape, including the changing drivers of trade—such as global value chains (GVCs)—and the movement of the fulcrum of trade policy from multilateral rounds to regional and plurilateral deals.
February 1, 2015
List of IMF Member Countries with Delays in Completion of Article IV Consultations Over 18 Months or Mandatory Financial Stability Assessment Over 18 Months
Description: This Staff Report Lists IMF Member Countries with Delays in Completion of Article IV Consultations over 18 Months or Mandatory Financial Stability Assessment over 18 Months, prepared by IMF staff and completed on January 28, 2015.
January 29, 2015
Current Challenges in Revenue Mobilization - Improving Tax Compliance
Description: This paper addresses core challenges that all tax administrations face in dealing with noncompliance—which are now receiving renewed attention. Long a priority in developing countries, assuring strong compliance has acquired greater priority in countries facing intensified revenue needs, and is critical for fairness and statebuilding.
January 22, 2015
Proposal to Enhance Fund Support for Low-Income Countries Hit by Public Health Disasters
Description:
The Fund’s existing facilities for low-income countries (LICs) provide a vehicle for the speedy provision of financial assistance to member countries hit by natural disasters, either through the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) or through augmentation of the funding already being provided through other facilities such as the Standby or Extended Credit Facilities. The quick disbursement of funds strengthens national financial capacity, including external payments capacity, to tackle relief and recovery challenges.
To address catastrophic disasters, the Fund created a mechanism in 2010 to provide additional relief to its poorest and most vulnerable member countries to help meet their exceptional balance of payments needs. Under this mechanism, the Fund can provide grants from a trust fund—the Post Catastrophe Debt Relief (PCDR) trust—that are used to pay off debt service falling due to the Fund. These grants ease pressures on the member’s balance of payments and create financial space by reducing its debt service burden.
This paper proposes reforms to this mechanism to cover situations where the member is experiencing an epidemic of an infectious disease that constitutes a significant threat to lives, economic activity, and international commerce across countries.
January 22, 2015
Proposal to Enhance Fund Support for Low-Income Countries Hit by Public Health Disasters - Proposed Decisions
Description:
This paper sets forth the proposed decisions and related legal instruments that are needed to implement the transformation of the the Post-Catastrophe Debt Relief Trust (the “PCDR Trust”) into the < the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (the “CCR Trust” or “Trust”), as described in the Proposal to Enhance Fund Support for Low-Income Countries Hit by Public Health Disasters and as presented in an informal session to brief Executive Directors on January 28, 2015. The paper summarizes key aspects of the proposed decisions and related instruments, in particular the new CCR Trust Instrument.
The proposed reforms envisage the transformation of the PCDR Trust into the CCR Trust through an amendment of the PCDR Trust Instrument.
January 20, 2015
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.
2014
December 22, 2014
From Banking to Sovereign Stress - Implications For Public Debt
Description: This paper explores how banking sector developments and characteristics influence the propagation of risks from the banking sector to sovereign debt, including how they affect the extent of fiscal costs of banking crises when those occur. It then proposes practices and policies for the fiscal authorities to help manage the risks and enhance crisis preparedness.
December 19, 2014
Assessing Reserve Adequacy - Specific Proposals
Description:
Reserves have a central place in the policy tool kit of most economies, providing insurance against shocks. In conjunction with sound policies, they can help reduce the likelihood of balance of payment crises and preserve economic and financial stability. Reserves, however, can result from both precautionary and non-precautionary policy objectives and institutional settings. While they can bring several important benefits, reserve holdings can sometimes be costly.
This paper brings together recent Fund work on reserve adequacy issues aiming to strengthen their discussion in bilateral surveillance. Despite the ongoing debate on reserve issues, there is little consensus about how to assess reserve holdings in different economies, even though this is an important aspect of a member’s external stability assessment. The work stream of which this paper is part aims to fill this gap by outlining a framework for discussing reserve adequacy issues in different economies. In this regard, the paper also forms part of the Fund’s response to the 2012 IEO evaluation of the Fund’s advice related to international reserves, which recommended, inter alia, that assessments of international reserves in bilateral surveillance reports should be more detailed and reflect country circumstances. To this end, the paper proposes that, where warranted, individual country Article IV reports include a fuller discussion of the authorities’ stated objectives (precautionary and non-precautionary) for holding reserves, an assessment of the reserve needs for precautionary purposes, and a discussion of the cost of reserves. The aim would be to ensure evenhandedness so that countries with similar circumstances are assessed in similar ways, while allowing the depth and emphasis of this discussion to vary depending on country conditions and needs.