Policy Papers

February 26, 2009

Togo - Assessment Letter for the World Bank

Description: This note provides the IMF staff assessment of recent macroeconomic developments in Togo and progress under the Fund-supported three-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program (PRGF) starting from January 2008 based on preliminary information through end-December 2008.

February 26, 2009

Changing Patterns in Low-Income Country Financing and Implications for Fund Policies on External Financing and Debt

Description: Low-income countries (LICs) face significant challenges in meeting their development objectives while maintaining a sustainable debt position. The international community’s main answer to this dilemma has been to promote recourse to concessional external resources. The Fund’s recommendations to LICs conform to this preference: the practice in Fund-supported programs in LICs has generally been to set zero limits on nonconcessional external borrowing while not restricting concessional financing, although flexibility has been applied on a case-by-case basis to allow some nonconcessional borrowing when warranted.

February 25, 2009

The Fund's Facilities and Financing Framework for Low-Income Countries

Description: This paper assesses the adequacy of the Fund’s facilities and financing framework for low-income countries (LICs) and proposes reform options. It is part of a broader review of all Fund financial instruments and is timely given the pressure the current global financial crisis is putting on LICs. It builds on previous efforts to adapt the Fund’s toolkit to the evolving needs of its LIC members, including creation of the Policy Support Instrument (PSI) and the recent modification of the Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF). This paper provides the basis for the first stage of the LIC-specific review, with a focus on: (i) gaps and overlaps in the facility architecture for LICs, (ii) design issues such as access, financing terms, and conditionality, and (iii) the concessional resource envelope and funding structure. Based on feedback from Executive Directors and further external consultation, more detailed reform proposals will be prepared in the second stage of the review.


The Fund’s Facilities and Financing Framework for Low-Income Countries—Supplementary Information
March 13, 2009

February 23, 2009

Key Trends in the Implementation of the Fund's Transparency Policy

Description: At the time of the 2005 review of the Fund’s transparency policy, it was agreed that information on key trends in implementation of the transparency policy would be circulated to the Board regularly, along with lists indicating the publication status of reports discussed by the Board.

The set of tables provided in this report updates the last Key Trends 2 with information on documents published through December 2007. An update will continue to be issued annually to the Executive Board.

February 23, 2009

Evaluation of Technical Assistance to Post-Conflict Countries-Mozambique and Rwanda

Description: This evaluation of technical assistance (TA) in statistics covers two post-conflict countries, namely, Mozambique and Rwanda during the period 2000–08. The TA, including training, covered the broad spectrum of the Statistics Department’s (STA) program, including collaboration with the East Africa Regional Technical Assistance Center (East AFRITAC), the U. K. Department for International Development (DFID), and the Japanese-funded General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) projects, as well as TA funded directly from the IMF’s budget. The emerging lessons also provide a useful guide to future TA to non-English-speaking countries.
The evaluation is based on missions to each country and relied on responses to questionnaires, desk reviews of available data, and discussions with country authorities, donors, data users, and national officials who participated in IMF courses in statistics.

February 10, 2009

Borrowing Agreement with the Government of Japan

Description: The Prime Minister of Japan announced Japan’s willingness to lend up to $100 billion to the Fund to help overcome the current crisis in the lead up to the November 2008 summit of the Leaders of the Group of Twenty. The loan proposed by the Government of Japan would make a substantial contribution to the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the Fund’s financial resources. The Government of Japan intends that the proposed loan be used to support the Fund’s ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members in the current global financial turbulence, including to the emerging market economies that are expected to continue their roles as drivers of global growth.

February 6, 2009

Initial Lessons of the Crisis

Description: This paper summarizes the initial lessons of the financial crisis along three dimensions—regulation, macroeconomic policy, and the global architecture for stability. The focus here is not on the near-term resolution of the crisis or the long-term consequences (which must be left to other papers), but rather on prevention, bearing in mind that crises will inevitably recur. The underlying analysis is elaborated in three related staff papers to be issued separately.

Notes: Companion Papers:

Initial Lessons of the Crisis for the Global Architecture and the IMF

Lessons of the Global Crisis for Macroeconomic Policy

Lessons of the Financial Crisis for Future Regulation of Financial Institutions and Markets and for Liquidity Management

February 6, 2009

Review of Fund Facilities-Analytical Basis for Fund Lending and Reform Options

Description: In the context of the ongoing review of Fund facilities, this paper examines the analytical basis for Fund lending in emerging market countries and provides a broad-ranging perspective for reforming the General Resources Account (GRA) lending toolkit.

The Fund’s important lending role in crisis prevention and resolution is buttressed by its unique characteristics: (i) its ability as a nonatomistic lender to provide large-scale financing and reduce the likelihood of a run by private creditors; (ii) its ability as a cooperative institution with near-universal membership to agree conditionality with members, thus providing national authorities with a policy commitment tool to underpin confidence and catalyze private lending; and (iii) its de facto preferred creditor status, which allows it to provide crisis financing when private creditors may be reluctant to lend.

February 4, 2009

Lessons of the Financial Crisis for Future Regulation of Financial Institutions and Markets and for Liquidity Management

Description: This paper seeks to draw lessons for financial sector regulation and supervision and central bank liquidity management from the ongoing crisis, focusing principally on implications for the future rather than on immediate crisis management policies. Inadequacies in macroeconomic policies and the design of the international financial architecture exposed in the crisis will also have to be addressed to make the suggested changes in the regulatory framework effective.

January 30, 2009

Conditionality in Fund-Supported Programs-Purposes, Modalities, and Options for Reform

Description: This paper takes a fresh look at the purpose and modalities of conditionality for the use of the Fund’s resources. It is part of a broader review of Fund lending facilities that includes access levels, charges and maturities, the analytical basis for Fund lending, and facilities for low income countries. It aims to explore options for more flexible approaches that would be responsive to the changing needs and circumstances of the Fund’s members while providing adequate safeguards for Fund resources. While these options have been developed with General Resources Account (GRA) facilities in mind as a complement to the companion paper on the analytical framework, they could apply, as appropriate, to facilities and instruments used by low income members.