Policy Papers
2013
February 20, 2013
Macroeconomic Issues in Small States and Implications for Fund Engagement
Description: This paper reviews the macroeconomic characteristics and performance of small states and discusses ways in which the Fund’s engagement with these countries could be better tailored to meet their needs. The Fund previously examined small states issues in 2000, informed by a Joint Task Force Report of the Commonwealth Secretariat (CS) and World Bank. Small states continue to face many of the same challenges they did then, and the 2000 Small States Report remains the foundation for much of the work in this area, both inside and outside the Fund. However, the relative macroeconomic performance of small states has deteriorated since the late 1990s, and a fresh look is warranted.
February 20, 2013
Asia and Pacific Small States - Raising Potential Growth and Enhancing Resilience to Shocks
Description: The small states of the Asia and Pacific region face unique challenges in raising their growth potential and living standards. These countries are particularly vulnerable because of their small populations, geographical isolation and dispersion, narrow export and production bases, lack of economies of scale, limited access to international capital markets, exposure to shocks (including climate change), and heavy reliance on aid. In providing public services, they face higher fixed government costs relative to other states because public services must be provided regardless of their small population size. Low access to credit by the private sector is an impediment to inclusive growth. Capacity constraints are another key challenge. The small states also face more limited policy tools. Five out of 13 countries do not have a central bank and the scope for diversifying their economies is narrow. Given their large development needs, fiscal policies have been, at times, pro-cyclical. Within the Asia-Pacific small states group, the micro states are subject to more vulnerability and macroeconomic volatility than the rest of the Asia-Pacific small states.
February 13, 2013
Proposed Amendment on the Reform of the IMF Executive Board and Fourteenth General Review of Quotas - Status of Acceptances and Consents
Description: This status report reviews progress toward implementation of the 2010 Quota and Governance Reforms. It updates the status of consents to the proposed quota increases under the 14th General Review of Quotas and of acceptances of the Proposed Seventh Amendment on the Reform of the Executive Board (“Board Reform Amendment” or “Seventh Amendment”) as set out in the Board of Governors Resolution No. 66-2.
February 11, 2013
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.
February 8, 2013
External Evaluation of the Independent Evaluation Office
Description:
We have been asked by the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund to undertake an external review of the activities of its Independent Evaluation Office (IEO). This is the second such evaluation in the IEO’s twelve year history. The first review, led by Karin Lissakers (the “Lissakers Report”), was presented to the Board in 2006. That report considered the extent to which the Office had succeeded during its first five years of operation in fulfilling its mandates and made recommendations to enhance its role within the IMF’s institutional architecture. Our report thus focuses on IEO activities since 2006.
As set out in the terms of reference of our Panel (see Appendix I), the central objective of this report is to evaluate how well the IEO has met its institutional mandates. The terms of reference, while not constraining the range of issues we could consider, also asks that we “assess the IEO’s effectiveness along several dimensions, including: (i) the appropriateness of evaluation topics; (ii) the independence of the IEO; (iii) the cost-effectiveness of the IEO and its operations; and (iv) the appropriateness and adequacy of the evaluation process including, but not limited to, how IEO recommendations are endorsed by the Board and implemented.”
February 1, 2013
Revised Guidelines for Foreign Exchange Reserve Management
Description: The 2013 revision of the Guidelines was carried out by the IMF staff, supported by a small Working Group of central banks and monetary authorities from China, India, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the European Central Bank, and the Bank for International Settlements, and The World Bank acting as reviewer in the process. Mr. Franco Passacantando, Managing Director at the Bank of Italy, chaired this Working Group. The revisions to the Guidelines mainly concentrate on: (i) reserve management objectives and strategy, including analyzing and managing risks in the context of reserve diversification; (ii) transparency and accountability, while avoiding reserve management decisions being dictated by the prevailing accounting framework; (iii) institutional and organizational framework issues, especially on avoiding possible inconsistencies between reserve management and other central bank operations; and (iv) the risk management framework, including taking into account ex-ante assessments of the impact of reserve investments on financial markets and building internal credit risk assessment systems to assess counterparty risks.
January 30, 2013
Outcome of the Quota Formula Review - Report of the Executive Board to the Board of Governors
Description: In completing the Fourteenth General Review of Quotas and approving the Proposed Amendment on the Reform of the Executive Board, the Board of Governors requested that the Executive Board complete a comprehensive review of the quota formula by January 2013. The Executive Board was also requested to bring forward the timetable for completion of the Fifteenth General Review of Quotas (hereafter the 15th Review) to January 2014.
January 28, 2013
Case Studies on Energy Subsidy Reform—Lessons and Implications - Supplement
Description:
This supplement presents country case studies reviewing energy subsidy reform experiences, which are the basis for the reform lessons identified in the main paper. The selection of countries for the case studies reflects the availability of data and of previously documented evidence on country-specific reforms. The 22 country case studies were also chosen to provide cases from all regions and a mix of outcomes from reform. The studies cover 19 countries, including seven from sub-Saharan Africa, two in developing Asia, three in the Middle East and North Africa, four in Latin America and the Caribbean, and three in Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS. The case studies are organized by energy product, with 14 studies of the reform of petroleum product subsidies, seven studies of the reform of electricity subsidies, and a case study of subsidy reform for coal. The larger number of studies on fuel subsidies reflects the wider availability of data and past studies for these reforms. The structure of each case study is similar, with each one providing the context of the reform and a description of the reforms; discussion of the impact of the reform on energy prices or subsidies and its success or failure; mitigating measures that were implemented in an attempt to generate public support for the reform and offset adverse effects on the poor; and, finally, identification of lessons for designing reforms.
Also Available in Arabic
Also Available in French
January 28, 2013
Energy Subsidy Reform - Lessons and Implications
Description:
Energy subsidies have wide-ranging economic consequences. While aimed at protecting consumers, subsidies aggravate fiscal imbalances, crowd-out priority public spending, and depress private investment, including in the energy sector. Subsidies also distort resource allocation by encouraging excessive energy consumption, artificially promoting capital-intensive industries, reducing incentives for investment in renewable energy, and accelerating the depletion of natural resources. Most subsidy benefits are captured by higher-income households, reinforcing inequality. Even future generations are affected through the damaging effects of increased energy consumption on global warming. This paper provides: (i) the most comprehensive estimates of energy subsidies currently available for 176 countries; and (ii) an analysis of ―how to do energy subsidy reform, drawing on insights from 22 country case studies undertaken by IMF staff and analyses carried out by other institutions.
Also Available in Arabic
Also Available in French
January 23, 2013
Blackout Periods in GRA Arrangements and the Extended Rights to Purchase Policy - A Review
Description: This paper reviews the IMF’s extended rights to purchase (ERP) policy. Established in 2009, the ERP policy extends the continuity of purchase rights during temporary interruptions of access to previously accumulated, but undrawn, balances which occur during periods where data on relevant periodic performance criteria (PCs) is not yet available. This policy specifically provides for access to accumulated but undrawn purchase rights under SBAs and arrangements under the EFF (―extended arrangements‖). While enhancing the continuity of a member’s purchase rights, the ERP policy also provides several safeguards aimed at reducing the risk that a member might draw on Fund resources when its Fund-supported program goes off track.