Policy Papers
2011
February 9, 2011
Report on the Technical Assistance Evaluation Mission to Transition Economies - Albania and Georgia
Description: This evaluation of technical assistance (TA) and training in statistics looks at the experience of two transition economies, Albania and Georgia, during roughly the period 2005–2010. The TA, including the training, to these countries covered all the topical areas on which the IMF’s Statistics Department’s (STA) focuses, i.e., national accounts, price statistics, and monetary, balance of payments and government finance statistics, albeit with differing emphases between the two countries. Part of the assistance was funded directly from the IMF’s budget, while other elements (in particular the peripatetic advisors) were financed externally, in these cases by the Japanese government.
February 8, 2011
Interim Report for the Eighth Review of the Fund’s Data Standards Initiatives
Description: This paper notes developments in the data standards initiatives since the Board discussions on the Seventh Review of the Fund’s Data Standards Initiatives (December 2008) and on Broadening Financial Indicators in the SDDS (March 2010). It explores themes that would be relevant for the Eighth Review, currently scheduled for early 2012. As one major theme, it seeks Directors’ feedback on a proposal for a possible enhanced data dissemination standard (SDDS Plus, a new tier within the existing data dissemination framework) that would be primarily intended for IMF member subscribers to the SDDS with systemically important financial sectors while contributing to address further the data gaps revealed in the global crisis. This new initiative would be designed to enhance and supplement, but not to replace, the SDDS.
January 21, 2011
2011 Review of Conditionality and the Design of Fund-Supported Programs - Concept Note
Description: The Fund regularly assesses conditionality in IMF-supported programs, with the next formal review planned for 2011. This paper summarizes previous assessments of conditionality, outlines staff’s proposed approach to the forthcoming review, and seeks Directors’ early views on the approach.
January 12, 2011
New Growth Drivers for Low-Income Countries - The Role of the BRICs
Description: The emergence of BRICs—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—is reshaping low-income countries’ (LICs) international economic relations. While industrial countries remain LICs’ dominant development partners, LIC-BRIC ties have increased so rapidly over the past decade that BRICs have become new growth drivers for LICs. Trade with BRICs is already close to half of the value of combined trade with the European Union and the United States, and larger than with other emerging market economies. BRIC FDI and development financing are making a significant impact in some key areas despite their relatively small volumes compared with those from advanced countries. Beyond the increased flows of goods and capital, BRICs have brought new dynamics in LICs’ economic relations with the rest of the world, complementing as well as competing with OECD partners. Nevertheless, while potential benefits from the LIC-BRIC ties are enormous, there are challenges and risks in realizing such benefits.
January 7, 2011
Enhancing International Monetary Stability--A Role for the SDR?
Description: The SDR has enjoyed renewed attention lately in the context of debates on international monetary reform. To be sure, the term SDR has been used to refer to three different concepts—(i) a composite reserve asset created in 1969: the “official SDR” as defined in the Fund’s Articles; (ii) a potential new class of reserve assets: tradable SDRdenominated securities issued by the Fund or an investment vehicle backed by a subset of the Fund’s membership; and (iii) a unit of account, which could be used to price internationally traded assets (e.g., sovereign bonds) and goods (e.g., commodities), to peg currencies, and to report balance of payments data. All three are discussed in this paper.
January 7, 2011
Is SDR Creation Inflationary?
Description: Giving greater prominence to SDRs in international reserves would entail allocating them more frequently in significant amounts. The question has properly been raised whether such issuance would be inflationary for the world economy. This short paper addresses that question. It explores five different “scenarios” that describe how recipient countries and the leading central banks—most notably the U.S. Federal Reserve (FRB) and the EU’s European Central Bank (ECB)—would respond to those allocations. It concludes that SDR issuance would be inflationary for the world economy under two of the scenarios, but not under the remaining three scenarios, which include the most likely ones.
2010
December 30, 2010
Macro-Fiscal Implications of Health Care Reform in Advanced and Emerging Economies - Case Studies
Description: This supplement provides country case studies on public health care expenditures and reform experiences in eight advanced and six emerging market economies. The case studies for the advanced economies seek to highlight specific episodes of success in containing public health spending during the past 30 years. For the emerging economies, the case studies take a broader approach and examine reform experiences and challenges during the past two decades rather than focusing exclusively on episodes of successful reform. The lessons from the case studies for other countries are integrated into the main Board paper.
December 30, 2010
Macro-Fiscal Implications of Health Care Reform in Advanced and Emerging Economies
Description: This paper provides an analysis of the developments in public health spending over the past 40 years, as well as projections of public health spending for 50 advanced and emerging countries over 2011–50. The paper also quantifies the effects of specific health reforms on the growth of public health spending in advanced economies by drawing on a range of analytical approaches, including country case studies. The challenges facing emerging economies as they seek to expand coverage of health care in a fiscally sustainable manner are also examined.
December 22, 2010
Bilateral Surveillance Guidance Note
Description: This note provides guidance to staff on the conduct of bilateral surveillance, a core activity of the Fund. Surveillance involves the continuous monitoring of members’ economic and financial policies, and regular Article IV consultations. During these consultations, staff holds pointed discussions with country authorities on the economic situation, the authorities’ policies, and desirable policy adjustments. These discussions are then reported to the Fund’s Executive Board for its consideration. The goal is, through thorough analysis, candid discussions, and a peer-review mechanism, to promote the domestic and external stability of members’ economies and thereby the stability of the international monetary system as a whole.
December 17, 2010
Implementation Plan in Response to Board-Endorsed Recommendations Arising from the IEO Evaluation of IMF Interactions with Member Countries
Description: This paper presents a forward-looking implementation plan for Board-endorsed recommendations of the IEO Evaluation of IMF Interactions with Member Countries. Executive Directors welcomed the important insights offered into the effectiveness of these interactions, which are key to the Fund’s ability to achieve its goals. They broadly supported the need to enhance the traction of Fund surveillance, improve the effectiveness of outreach, and strengthen the management of interactions. Directors, nonetheless, “observed that the report covers principally the pre-crisis period, and significant progress has been made on several fronts since then.” In drawing up the implementation plan, this note focuses on points commanding broad support by the Executive Board, and builds on existing plans and ongoing reform initiatives that are broadly aligned with the evaluation’s recommendations.