Country Reports
2022
October 21, 2022
Ireland: Financial Sector Assessment Program-Technical Note on Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism
Description: While domestic money laundering (ML) threats are well understood by the authorities, Ireland faces significant and increasing threats from foreign criminal proceeds. As a growing international financial center,1 Ireland is exposed to inherent transnational money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) related risks. The ML risks facing Ireland include illicit proceeds from foreign crimes (e.g., corruption, tax crimes). Retail and international banks, trust and company service providers (TCSPs),2 lawyers, and accountants are medium to high-risk for ML, while virtual asset service providers (VASPs) pose emerging risks. Brexit, the recent move of international banks to Dublin, and the COVID-19 pandemic increased the money laundering risks faced by Ireland. The Central Bank of Ireland (Central Bank) nevertheless has demonstrated a deep and robust experience in assessing and understanding their domestic ML/TF risks; however, an increased focus on risks related to transnational illicit financial flows is required. A thematic risk assessment undertaken by the Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee (AMLSC) of international ML/TF risks would enhance the authorities’ risk understanding and is key to effective response to the rapid financial sector growth. Introducing data analytics tools, including machine learning to leverage potentially available big data on cross-border payments, would allow for efficient detection of emerging risks. The results of this assessment should be published to improve the understanding of transnational ML/TF risks and feed into the anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) policy priorities going forward.
October 21, 2022
Sierra Leone: Technical Assistance Report-National Accounts Statistics Mission
Description: Regular rebasing is essential to ensure that gross domestic product (GDP) volume estimates remain relevant over the years by recording the importance of all economic activities as well as their relative prices. The base year of the actual GDP estimates of Sierra Leone is the year 2006. The new base will be the year 2018 and will provide an up-to-date and comprehensive estimate of Sierra Leone’s economic activity. At the request of the Statistics Sierra Leone (STATS SL), a technical assistance mission was conducted to provide guidance on the analyses of the source data and method used to compile the GDP data as well as to develop the Supply and Use Tables. The mission was conducted under the auspices of AFRITAC West 2, IMF.
October 21, 2022
Solomon Islands: Technical Assistance Report-Central Bank Risk Management
Description: At the request of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI), a Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM) mission provided technical assistance on central bank risk management during the period August–September 2021. The mission comprised Mr. Paul Woods (Central Bank of Ireland) and Mr. Chris Aylmer (formerly with the Reserve Bank of Australia), under supervision of Mr. Ashraf Khan (MCM, Central Bank Operations Division) The purpose of the mission was to guide the CBSI on how to establish an Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework. The mission focused in particular on establishing a strengthened risk culture throughout the organization, and strengthening risk governance - including the role of the CBSI’s risk management unit.
October 20, 2022
Solomon Islands: Technical Assistance Report on Government Finance Statistics Mission (April 18-29, 2022)
Description: At the request of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands, the technical assistance mission was conducted by the IMF’s Statistics Department (STA) to assist the SI authorities in strengthening the compilation and dissemination of government finance statistics (GFS) and public sector debt statistics (PSDS) for decision making and providing data to the Fund for surveillance. The technical issues focused on inconsistencies in stocks and flows in GFS and PSDS and on recording of grants. The mission found that the inconsistencies among various statistics stemmed from the different source data and the reconciliation was recommended. The mission also suggested to set up a Government Finance taskforce to improve the coordination for compilation among compilers from various agencies and share responsibility and accountability of involved agencies in this process.
October 19, 2022
Ukraine: Request for Purchase Under the Rapid Financing Instrument-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Ukraine
Description: The Russian invasion of Ukraine that started over seven months ago has caused large loss of life, large population displacement, and significant infrastructure damage. The impact on economic activity has been enormous: real GDP has severely contracted, inflation has risen sharply, trade has been significantly disrupted, and the fiscal deficit has ballooned to unprecedented levels. In the immediate aftermath of the invasion, the authorities quickly adapted monetary and exchange rate policies to preserve financial and exchange rate stability. More recently, and to help reverse significant international reserves loss, the exchange rate was devalued, helping to stabilize FX reserves and maintain overall macroeconomic and financial stability. Fiscal policy has been geared to priority spending on defense, social benefits, humanitarian needs, and where possible some fixing of critical infrastructure. Uncertainty around the size of financing needs remains extremely elevated and highly dependent on the length of the war and its intensity, and economic risks loom large, including those related to potential additional damage to critical infrastructure or new disruptions to the agricultural and energy sectors.
October 7, 2022
Argentina: Second Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility, Requests for Waivers of Applicability and Nonobservance of Performance Criteria, Modification of Performance Criteria, and Financing Assurances Review-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Argentina
Description: Episodes of domestic policy uncertainty and acute market pressures in mid- 2022, coupled with a more challenging global environment, necessitated firmer program implementation and stronger policy reaction to ensure macroeconomic stability, rebuild policy credibility, and safeguard program objectives. Initial decisive actions and strengthened commitments by the new economic team since early-August have started to stabilized markets, although the situation is fragile as reserve coverage remains low while inflation is unanchored and stands at multi-year highs. The review discussions focused on assessing recent progress, updating the macroeconomic framework, and reaching understandings on a solid policy package to durably restore stability and achieve the program objectives.
October 3, 2022
Republic of Poland: Technical Assistance Report-Public Investment Management Assessment
Description: Public investment is expected to play a significant role in the post-pandemic economic recovery in Poland. Like other countries in the region, Poland lags more advanced European economies in the quantity and quality of its infrastructure despite significant progress in the last decade. The Government’s recent economic plan—the New Polish Deal—foresee an extensive economic and investment plan of which many investments will benefit from the large support from the European Union funds to scale up green, digital, and resilient investments. In this context, the public investment management assessment (PIMA) was conducted to assess strengths and weaknesses of infrastructure governance in Poland and identify potential bottlenecks for making the most of these investments in terms of quality of infrastructure.
September 29, 2022
Republic of Moldova: First Reviews Under the Extended Credit Facility, and Requests for Modification of Performance Criteria and Inflation Consultation Clause-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Republic of Moldova
Description: Moldova’s economy is projected to stagnate in 2022 amid spillovers from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war in Ukraine continues to weigh heavily on Moldova, although some initial pressures have subsided. Bank deposit net withdrawals came to an end and are now steadily being replenished. The leu depreciated by about 8 percent so far while pressures on foreign reserves have eased. About 550,000 refugees fleeing the war (representing more than 20 percent of the Moldovan population) have transited through Moldova, with about a fifth remaining in the country. Driven by rising food and energy prices, inflation accelerated further above the target band.
September 28, 2022
Canada: Central Bank Transparency Code Review
Description: The Bank of Canada (BOC) sets a high benchmark for transparency, which is recognized by its stakeholders, thus maintaining a high level of trust and accountability. The BOC’s transparency practices are broadly aligned with expanded and comprehensive practices as defined by the IMF Central Bank Transparency Code (see Table 1). This is acknowledged by the BOC’s external stakeholders, who view the central bank as an open, dynamic, and transparent public institution.
September 28, 2022
Seychelles: Central Bank Transparency Code Review
Description: The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) sets a high benchmark for transparency, given the economic, and financial development and literacy circumstances of Seychelles, which is recognized by the stakeholders, thus maintaining a high level of trust and accountability. Despite constrained human capital resources, the CBS has taken commendable actions to facilitate an open and dynamic dialogue with key stakeholders. The CBS took the lead in communications on extraordinary support programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, regularly engaging with the public using plain language and various communication tools. It is also making great efforts to promote financial inclusion in Seychelles by developing and implementing a broad agenda on financial education and enhancing consumer protection in the financial sector.