Policy Papers

June 10, 2013

Key Aspects of Macroprudential Policy - Background Paper

Description: The countercyclical capital buffer (CCB) was proposed by the Basel committee to increase the resilience of the banking sector to negative shocks. The interactions between banking sector losses and the real economy highlight the importance of building a capital buffer in periods when systemic risks are rising. Basel III introduces a framework for a time-varying capital buffer on top of the minimum capital requirement and another time-invariant buffer (the conservation buffer). The CCB aims to make banks more resilient against imbalances in credit markets and thereby enhance medium-term prospects of the economy—in good times when system-wide risks are growing, the regulators could impose the CCB which would help the banks to withstand losses in bad times.

June 10, 2013

Key Aspects of Macroprudential Policy

Description: The crisis has underscored the costs of systemic instability at both the national and the global levels and highlighted the need for dedicated macroprudential policies to achieve financial stability. Building on recent advances, this paper provides a framework to inform the IMF’s country-specific advice on macroprudential policy. It recognizes that developing macroprudential policy is a work in progress, and addresses key issues to help ensure its effectiveness.

June 10, 2013

Staff Operational Guidelines on Dissemination of Technical Assistance Information

Description: TA information should be disseminated more widely. The more active sharing of TA information with donors and other TA providers will improve coordination, exploit synergies, and enable the IMF to prioritize and leverage its limited TA resources, thereby fulfilling key objectives under the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Moreover, especially from the perspective of their own accountability to their governments and legislators, donors to the IMF’s TA program have a legitimate interest in receiving information on TA that is financed by them. For TA recipient countries, the wider dissemination of TA information among different government agencies will strengthen ownership and facilitate the more effective implementation of TA recommendations. More generally, through publication, the membership and the public at large will benefit from a better understanding of best practices, and the IMF’s experiences in the provision of TA.

June 10, 2013

Framework Administered Account for Selected Fund Activities -Financial Access Survey Subaccount

Description: In March 2009 the Fund established a new Framework Administered Account to administer external financial resources for Selected Fund Activities (the “SFA Instrument”). The financing of activities under the terms of the SFA Instrument is implemented through the establishment and operation of subaccounts within the SFA. This paper requests Executive Board approval to establish the Financial Access Survey Subaccount (“the Subaccount”) under the terms of the SFA Instrument.

May 30, 2013

Improving Cross-Sector Data Consistency

Description: The objective of the paper is to inform Executive Directors of recent work undertaken by the Statistics Department (STA) to further enhance data consistency.
STA works to promote high quality statistics as essential pre-requisites for the formulation of appropriate macroeconomic and financial policies. Such work supports IMF surveillance and goals that are articulated in Board papers pertaining to Data Provision to the Fund for Surveillance Purposes; the G-20/IMFC Data Gaps Initiative; and the Fund’s Data Standards Initiatives. All these initiatives are motivated by the Executive Directors’ interest in better and more consistent data.

An important element of STA’s work program is the project to improve crosssector data consistency. This project has focused on an initial set of countries that reflect the diverse nature of the IMF’s membership, and on selected data series. Data inconsistencies across macroeconomic datasets (financial, government, external, and national accounts statistics) have been found to exist for most countries, regardless of their size and level of development. Such inconsistencies may arise from a variety of reasons, including methodological differences and different data vintages.

The project has been favorably received by member countries and has enhanced cooperation at both the international and national levels. Indeed, because a number of agencies within a country may be involved in compiling macroeconomic statistics, the project has encouraged strengthened national inter-agency cooperation to resolve inconsistencies.

In spite of ongoing efforts, many inconsistencies persist, and new inconsistencies may sometimes arise. A significant initial finding is that countries may face challenges in improving cross-sector data consistency. In particular, member country resource constraints often limit the scope of their work in the short– and medium–term.

Next steps. The recent work undertaken by STA has yielded significant positive results in a relatively brief period of time. Therefore, next steps involve expanding this work to eventually cover all countries, and monitoring inconsistencies on an ongoing basis so that they are not allowed to persist without follow-up with countries.

May 29, 2013

Implementation Plan in Response to Board-Endorsed Recommendations for the IEO Evaluation of the Role of the Fund as Trusted Advisor

Description: This paper sets out Management’s response to the IEO’s Evaluation of the Role of the Fund as Trusted Advisor. The implementation plan proposes specific measures focusing on the five of the six recommendations that won widespread support from the Board, including enhancing consultations with authorities ahead of policy discussions and improvements to the management of human resources to strengthen relations with authorities. The report also proposes new or enhanced surveys of country authorities and Offices of Fund Executive Directors to assist in monitoring progress on these measures.

May 22, 2013

Statement by the Managing Director on the Work Program of the Executive Board - Executive Board Meeting - June 3, 2013

Description: From stabilization to growth. The Global Policy Agenda (GPA) presented to the IMFC during the 2013 Spring Meetings charted a range of actions needed to invigorate a sustainable recovery and to make the global economy more resilient. The GPA also outlined how the Fund can best assist members in placing the global economy on a sustained and balanced growth path. This work program translates the policy priorities laid out in the GPA into the agenda for the Fund over the next six to twelve months. Progress on commitments outlined at the Spring Meetings will be assessed in the Fall GPA, which will also detail policy directions for the Fund and the membership.

May 21, 2013

The Fund's Capacity Development Strategy--Better Policies Through Stronger Institutions

Description: This paper outlines reforms to increase the effectiveness of the Fund’s capacity development (CD) program. It builds on the 2008 and 2011 reviews of technical assistance (TA) and the 2008 review of training, which set in motion important changes to make CD more valuable to member countries. Reforms will involve Board endorsement in a few areas and implementation by staff of related next steps.

May 21, 2013

The Fund's Capacity Development Strategy - Better Policies Through Stronger Institutions - Background Paper

Description: This supplement provides background information on various aspects of capacity development (CD) for the main Board paper, The Fund’s Capacity Development Strategy—Better Policies through Stronger Institutions. It is divided into nine notes or sections, each focused on a different topic covered in the main paper. Section A explores the importance of institutions for growth, and the role the Fund can play in building institutions. Section B presents stylized facts about how the landscape for CD has changed since the late 1990s. Section C discusses the difficulties of analyzing CD data because of measurement issues. Section D provides a longer-term perspective on how Fund CD has responded to member needs. Section E contains information on previous efforts to prioritize CD, assesses Regional Strategy Notes (RSNs) and country pages, and suggests ways to strengthen RSNs, including by using the Fund’s surveillance products. Section F compares the technical assistance (TA) funding model proposed in the 2011

May 20, 2013

The Extended Rights to Purchase Policy - Reduction of Blackout Periods in GRA Arrangements - Operational Guidance Note

Description: This note provides guidance on the operation of the IMF’s Extended Rights to Purchase policy for General Resources Account (GRA) arrangements. Provided certain safeguards are met, this policy extends the period (up to some limits) in which a member may access accumulated but undrawn balances under a GRA arrangement once a new test date is reached but for which the test data are not yet available. In so doing it addresses some access “blackouts” which can affect all GRA arrangements with the Fund, but especially precautionary ones. To assist in program design, other possible access blackouts, not addressed by this policy, are also described in this note.