Policy Papers
2014
March 5, 2014
Conditionality in Evolving Monetary Policy Regimes
Description: With single-digit inflation and substantial financial deepening, developing countries are adopting more flexible and forward-looking monetary policy frameworks and ascribing a greater role to policy interest rates and inflation objectives. While some countries have adopted formal inflation targeting regimes, others have developed frameworks with greater target flexibility to accommodate changing money demand, use of policy rates to signal the monetary policy stance, and implicit inflation targets.
February 20, 2014
Review of the Fund's Strategy on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism
Description: The Fund’s Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) program represents an important contribution to the international community’s response to money laundering and terrorist financing over the past decade. The program originally focused primarily on (a) AML/CFT assessments – as part of the Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) program and of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) – and (b) capacity development activities. Following guidance provided by the Board in 2011, money laundering, terrorist financing and related predicate crimes issues (hereinafter also referred to as financial integrity issues) are being raised in the context of surveillance when they are judged to affect domestic and balance of payments stability. Moreover, some recent Fund-supported programs have also incorporated financial integrity issues.
February 20, 2014
Lag for Public Access to the Minutes of Executive Board Meetings
Description: At the recent Review of the Fund’s Transparency Policy on June 24, 2013, the Executive Board agreed to further consider options to reduce the time lag for public access to Executive Board meeting minutes under the Open Archives Policy. Although a majority of Executive Directors saw scope for reducing the time lag for public access to Board meeting minutes from five years to three years, a significant minority of Directors favored maintaining the existing lag in order to strike a balance between informing the public about the Board’s views and maintaining the candor of Board discussions. The Board requested that staff undertake further analysis of the issue. Accordingly, this paper provides a more detailed assessment of the current practice and a discussion of the potential costs and benefits of possible options for further reform.
February 1, 2014
List of IMF Member Countries with Delays in Completion of Article IV Consultations or Mandatory Financial Stability Assessments Over 18 Months
Description: The following table lists the IMF members for which the Article IV consultation or the mandatory financial stability assessment has been delayed by more than 18 months. The delay is counted past the scheduled expected date, plus any applicable grace period.
January 28, 2014
Review of the Flexible Credit Line, the Precautionary and Liquidity Line, and the Rapid Financing Instrument
Description: This review of the Flexible Credit Line (FCL), the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL), and the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) focuses on four key issues: (i) the demand for the FCL and PLL in the context of the broader role of the Fund’s lending (including precautionary) instruments in the global financial safety net (GFSN); (ii) the qualification/conditionality framework for the FCL and the PLL; (iii) concerns about repeated usage of FCL arrangements by the same members and consideration of ways to further improve the transparency in the discussion of access/exit in the underlying staff documents; and (iv) the lack of demand for the RFI.
January 28, 2014
Review of the Flexible Credit Line, the Precautionary and Liquidity Line, and the Rapid Financing Instrument - Supplementary Information
January 23, 2014
Fiscal Policy and Income Inequality
Description: Fiscal policy is the primary tool for governments to affect income distribution. Rising income inequality in advanced and developing economies has coincided with growing public support for income redistribution. This comes at a time when fiscal restraint is an important priority in many advanced and developing economies. In the context of the Fund’s mandate to promote growth and stability, this paper describes: (i) recent trends in the inequality of income, wealth, and opportunity in advanced and developing economies; (ii) country experience with different fiscal instruments for redistribution; (iii) options for the reform of expenditure and tax policies to help achieve distributive objectives in an efficient manner that is consistent with fiscal sustainability; and (iv) recent evidence on how fiscal policy measures can be designed to mitigate the impact of fiscal consolidation on inequality. This paper does not advocate any particular redistributive goal or policy instrument for fiscal redistribution.
January 22, 2014
Termination of the Emergency Post-Conflict and Natural Disaster Assistance Administered Subsidy Account
January 16, 2014
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
January 14, 2014
Review of the Adequacy of the Fund's Precautionary Balances
Description: This paper reviews the adequacy of the Fund’s precautionary balances, using the framework approved by the Board in 2010. The review takes place on a standard two year cycle. The paper discusses developments since the last review in 2012 and revisits several issues relating to the assessment of reserve adequacy that were discussed at that time.