Country Reports
2022
May 13, 2022
Mongolia: Technical Assistance Report-High Frequency Indicators Mission
Description: The IMF conducted a remote technical assistance (TA) mission from March 1 to 12, 2021, to help the National Statistics Office of Mongolia (NSOM) compile a monthly indicator of economic activity (MIEA). Experimental results describe monthly economic activity from January 2010 to January 2021 as well as the impact of the COVID-19. This second mission for developing the MIEA was funded by the IMF's Data for Decisions trust fund1 (D4D).
May 11, 2022
Colombia: Financial Sector Assessment Program–Detailed Assessment of Observance of the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision
Description: There have been significant improvements to the legal framework and the supervisory process since the last Basel Core Principles (BCP) review; some additional recommended enhancements are highlighted in this assessment. The Superintendency of Financial Institutions (SFC) is an integrated supervisor with a purview that includes banks, finance companies, insurance, securities, and other financial intermediaries. Additionally, the SFC is also the bank resolution authority. To strengthen consolidated supervision, Congress passed Financial Conglomerates Law (FCL) 1870 addressing the supervision of financial conglomerates and granting the SFC supervisory authority over financial conglomerates (CF).2 The FCL strengthened the framework for consolidated supervision, which already included banks and their subsidiaries, by adding holding companies as supervised entities. Moreover, it defined the scope of supervision of financial conglomerates, setting standards with regards to risk management, adequate capital, and corporate governance, as well as minimum requirements for managing concentration risks and conflicts of interest in intragroup and related party exposures. The SFC has strong coordination and cooperation arrangements with foreign supervisors (through signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and the coordination mechanisms derived from the CCSBSO, among others) as well as the authority to request information from parent companies, all of which were further enhanced with the issuance of the FCL. Additionally, the SFC has access and authority to require information from ultimate beneficial owners.
May 11, 2022
Peru: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Peru
Description: After being hit very hard by the pandemic in 2020, both in terms of health and economic outcomes, Peru experienced an equally strong economic rebound in 2021. A new administration was inaugurated in July 2021 with a program focused on reducing inequality and improving social conditions, but limited support from Congress and lack of cohesion heightened political uncertainty. While real GDP surpassed its pre-pandemic level by 2021, labor force participation and total employment have not fully recovered yet. Poverty increased significantly in 2020 and, despite some improvement in 2021, remains higher than in 2019. On May 27, 2021, the IMF Executive Board completed the mid-term review of Peru’s continued qualification under the Flexible Credit Line (FCL) arrangement.
May 11, 2022
West African Economic and Monetary Union: Financial Sector Assessment Program–Financial System Stability Assessment
Description: The Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) was conducted amid an economic rebound two years into the COVID-19 pandemic that had a limited impact on the financial sector. Several member states have experienced political instability, with coups in Burkina Faso and Mali leading to economic sanctions for the latter, and an attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau. Yet, short of further political deterioration, economic recovery is expected to persist. The last FSAP was conducted in 2008.
May 10, 2022
Grenada: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Grenada
Description: Grenada’s economy was hit hard by the pandemic, with a decline in real output of 14 percent in 2020 from both a collapse of tourism-related activities and the suspension of in-person classes at Saint George’s University (SGU). Growth in 2021 is estimated to have partly recovered to 5.6 percent, driven by construction and agriculture. The authorities’ policy response helped mitigate the pandemic’s impact through containment measures, increased health and social spending, and an expanded public investment program (including to build resilience to natural disasters). Central government debt rose to 70 percent of GDP in 2021 (from 59 percent in 2019) and the external position has worsened. The financial sector has so far weathered the crisis well.
May 10, 2022
Belize: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report
Description: The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on Belize in 2020, leading to a 16.7 percent contraction in real GDP and a rise in public debt to an unsustainable level of 133 percent of GDP. To address this situation, the government presented a medium-term plan to lower public debt to 85 percent of GDP in 2025 and 70 percent in 2030 by implementing fiscal consolidation, structural reforms, and debt restructuring. Significant progress towards restoring debt sustainability was made in 2021.
May 9, 2022
The Bahamas: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for The Bahamas
Description: The Bahamas is experiencing a tourism-led rebound. Real GDP growth in 2021 was close to 14 percent, as stayover tourist arrivals doubled relative to 2020. The economy is projected to expand by 8 percent in 2022. Nonetheless, it will likely take until 2024 to return to the 2019 level of GDP and the pandemic has given rise to significant human and social costs. The country’s medium-term growth challenges are likely worse than before, and public finances are in a more precarious state. Risks are skewed downwards given a difficult near-term financing situation, rising inflationary—and potentially BOP—pressures because of the war in Ukraine, an ongoing threat from the evolving pandemic, and the country’s high vulnerability to natural disasters.
May 3, 2022
Republic of Armenia: Sixth Review under the Stand-by Arrangement-Press Release; and Staff Report
Description: Real GDP growth rebounded strongly in 2021 and early 2022, driven by a pickup in construction, trade, and services activities, and benefiting from strong policies and a gradual improvement of the pandemic, notwithstanding its various waves. In 2022, the budget aimed at continuing a gradual fiscal consolidation, while still providing temporary and targeted support to the economy, and monetary policy aimed at continuing its tightening cycle that started in late-2020 to cool down inflation. The favorable near-term outlook, however, is set to be interrupted by the spillovers from the war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia, given Armenia’s economic links and exposure to the Russian economy. Growth has been revised down markedly this year, while inflationary pressures are expected to persist, keeping inflation above the Central Bank of Armenia’s (CBA) target in 2022.
May 2, 2022
Colombia: Request for an Arrangement under the Flexible Credit Line and Cancellation of the Current Arrangement - Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Colombia: Colombia’s very strong policy frameworks and comprehensive policy response to the pandemic have supported the economy’s resilience.
Description: Colombia’s very strong policy frameworks and comprehensive policy response to the pandemic have supported the economy’s resilience. With stronger-than-expected growth last year, fiscal deficits and public debt are declining faster than anticipated, and the fiscal framework has been reactivated with a new fiscal rule and debt anchor. Further monetary policy tightening should drive inflation towards the central bank’s inflation target by mid-2024. Successful credit support measures in the financial sector are being phased out and, as discussed in the recent FSAP, financial sector supervision and regulation have been enhanced since the previous staff assessment. Overall, the authorities remain committed to maintaining their very strong policy framework as seen by steps taken to normalize policies from a crisis footing in the pandemic. Political assurances on policy continuity from the leading candidates provide a necessary safeguard for the proposed arrangement.