Policy Papers
2008
April 4, 2008
Technical Assistance Evaluation Program - Findings of Evaluations and Updated Program - Evaluation of the Technical Assistance Subaccount for Iraq
Description:
Key Messages
• The Iraq Subaccount is a good example of donor coordination as expressed in the Paris Declaration.
• Overall, the TAs funded from the Iraq TA Subaccount were successful, relevant, efficient and effective.
• Ensuring long-term sustainability requires maintaining an adequate the level of TA activity in the future.
• There were instances where more pro-active donor coordination was needed to build synergies to achieve development results.
• While the offsite modality was fairly effective and cost efficient and delivered value for money, the limits of this model will be stretched as IMF moves from policy and operational advice and training to greater emphasis on supporting the implementation of policies and procedures.
• The Fund’s internal monitoring needs to be strengthened, particularly the TA Information Management System. Reforms in this area are on track, supported by Fund management, and improvements are expected by 1 May 2008.
• The Fund’s TA evaluation framework needs to be strengthened by instituting a system of self assessments of all completed TAs and developing guidelines for the ex-post evaluation of TAs. Work in these areas is planned.
• The Fund delivered slightly more internally funded TA to Iraq than originally planned.
April 4, 2008
Technical Assistance Evaluation Program - Findings of Evaluations and Updated Program - Second Mid-Term Review of the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre
Description: CARTAC, the second of the regional technical assistance centers, was created with singular emphasis on ownership of technical assistance by the beneficiary countries. To this end, it was structured as a UNDP project with the IMF as Executing Agency and with a Steering Committee empowered to give strategic guidance to the program and select its senior staff from short lists provided by the IMF. With the spread of the RTAC modality, the IMF has sought to bring the Centers' activities within the ambit of overall resource planning for technical assistance, ensure consistency with the institution's view on priorities for technical assistance in the countries concerned, and tighten quality control through backstopping. This has created the potential for conflict with the relative independence that CARTAC has enjoyed from its inception. The conclusion in this report, however, is that alignment with the IMF does not necessarily undermine country ownership and that the Steering Committee can play a pivotal role in defusing any tension that may arise.
April 3, 2008
Enhancing the Impact of Fund Technical Assistance
Description: This paper outlines reforms to increase the impact of the Fund’s Technical Assistance (TA). The MTS and recommendations by the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) have set in motion substantial changes to make Fund TA more effective, ensure that TA resources are allocated efficiently, and TA is better coordinated with recipient countries, other providers, and development partners. The Managing Director’s refocusing exercise underscored the need for reform and gave an impetus to accelerate and deepen these efforts.
April 3, 2008
Dissemination of Technical Assistance Information
Description: This paper sets out a framework for streamlined and strengthened procedures for the wider dissemination of technical assistance-related information ("TA Information"). On the basis of this framework, management intends to issue guidelines to the staff setting forth these new procedures.
April 3, 2008
Progress Report on the Activities of the Independent Evaluation Office
Description: Since its October 2007 Report to the IMFC, the IEO has released its report on Structural Conditionality in Fund-Supported Programs, and continued work on the evaluations of Aspects of IMF Corporate Governance—including the Role of the Board and Interactions with Member Countries. Work was also initiated on an evaluation of the IMF’s Approach to International Trade Policy Issues.
March 28, 2008
Reform of Quota and Voice in the International Monetary Fund-Draft Report of the Executive Board to the Board of Governors
Description: This report sets out a proposal for a second-round package of reforms consistent with the framework agreed in the Singapore Resolution and, to that end, recommends that the Board of Governors approve the resolution that is appended to this Report (the "Resolution").
March 21, 2008
Evaluation of the U.K. DFID-Financed Technical Assistance GDDS Project for Selected Anglophone African Countries (2001-06)
Description: This review of Phase I of the technical assistance (TA) General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) project (2001–2006) for 15 Anglophone African countries1—funded by the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) and executed jointly by the Fund and the World Bank—(henceforth, referred to as the Anglophone African (AAf) project) focuses mostly on the components that were implemented by the Fund’s Statistics Department (STA). The review draws on various internal and periodic evaluations of project execution and reports by technical assistance providers. The GDDS—part of the Fund’s Data Standards Initiative—defined the framework for the AAf project. The main goal of the project was initially limited to assisting countries to become participants in the GDDS via preparatory workshops and development of metadata and plans for improvement. The goal was subsequently expanded to providing TA and promoting greater awareness and regional cooperation.
March 20, 2008
The FY2009-FY2011 Medium-Term Administrative, Restructuring, and Capital Budgets
Description: This paper presents for Executive Board approval proposals for the FY 09–11 medium–term administrative budget (MTB), a one-time multi-year appropriation to meet the costs of institutional restructuring (Restructuring Budget), and the FY 09 Capital Budget in the context of the FY 09–11 capital plan. It also proposes to carry forward the unused resources from the FY 08 administrative budget into the Restructuring Budget, to help defray the costs of the institutional restructuring.
March 17, 2008
Review of Data Provision to the Fund for Surveillance Purposes
Description: This paper reviews how well members are providing the data the Fund needs, how well staff is handling issues of data inadequacy, and how the Fund’s data needs are evolving. The aim is to identify possible ways of improving data provision or, where data provision can only improve as the result of protracted capacity building, to ensure that surveillance takes due account of data inadequacies.
March 17, 2008
Review of Data Provision to the Fund for Surveillance Purposes - Informational Annexes
Description:
Informational Annexes:
I. Article VIII, Section 5. Furnishing of Information
II. Table of Common Indicators Required for Surveillance
III. Data Provision Trends and Implications of the 2004 Decision
IV. Sample Selection for In-Depth Analysis of Treatment of Data Issues in Staff Reports
V. Survey of Data Provision to the Fund for Surveillance for Fund Mission Chiefs
VI. Recommended Methodologies for Data Provision
VII. Other Ongoing Data Initiatives
VIII. Security and Reporting Procedures for the Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) Database
IX. Recent Data Improvements Through the Standardized Report Forms (SRFs)