Policy Papers

August 30, 2006

Update on the Financing of the Fund's Concessional Assistance and Debt Relief to Low-Income Member Countries

Description: This paper provides a semi-annual review of the status of financing for PRGFESF lending, HIPC-MDRI debt relief, and subsidization of emergency assistance to PRGF-eligible members. The last update was issued to the Executive Board in March 2006.

August 29, 2006

Cross-Country Experience with Restructuring of Sovereign Debt and Restoring Debt Sustainability

Description: The paper is organized as follows: Section II provides a cross-country overview of the economic conditions, including the composition of sovereign debt and its dynamics prevailing prior to the debt operations, and a discussion of the scope and outcomes—in terms of the debt relief provided by creditors—of the debt restructurings. Section III analyzes the debt profile, liquidity position, DSAs and accompanying stress tests, and an EWS to assess whether debt sustainability has been restored in each country case. Conclusions are set out in Section IV.

August 21, 2006

Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) - Status of Implementation

Description: This report reviews progress and issues in implementing the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and reports on the implementation of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) by IDA, the IMF, and AfDF. It concludes that the volume of debt relief has increased significantly since the inception of the HIPC Initiative in 1996, thereby reducing HIPCs’ debt service burdens and allowing them to finance increased poverty reduction efforts. It also provides updated information on the costs of debt relief under the HIPC Initiative and the MDRI. Finally, it reviews the status of creditor participation and delivery of debt relief under the two initiatives, highlighting the challenges to increase the participation by non–Paris Club official bilateral and commercial creditors in the HIPC Initiative.

August 17, 2006

Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries - Issues Related to the Sunset Clause

Description: This paper responds to the Boards’ request to present a proposal addressing country eligibility under the HIPC Initiative sunset clause and discuss related issues. It builds on an informal note to the Boards which explored a number of options to deal with the sunset clause of the HIPC Initiative, which is scheduled to take effect at end-2006. It addresses the concerns raised by Directors in their discussion of the note in July 2006 and proposes that the sunset clause be allowed to take effect and the countries that are assessed to have met the income and indebtedness criteria based on end-2004 data be grandfathered. In response to concerns raised by Directors, it also discusses the issue of a permanent exit from the Initiative for countries wishing to do so.

August 16, 2006

Review of the Fund's Strategy on Overdue Financial Obligations

Description: This paper reviews progress under the Fund’s strengthened cooperative strategy on overdue financial obligations since the last review and proposes to extend the availability of the rights approach by another year, to end-August 2007. Section II reviews recent developments regarding overdue financial obligations to the Fund through end-June 2006. Progress under the Fund’s strategy on arrears and developments in the protracted arrears cases are discussed in Section III. A draft decision to extend the availability of the rights approach until end-August 2007 is provided in Section IV.

August 9, 2006

Doha Development Agenda and Aid for Trade

Description: This paper summarizes recent developments in the Doha Round negotiations, and aid for trade. As requested by the Development Committee last September, it reviews existing mechanisms for cross-country and regional aid for trade needs. It proposes possible options to overcome the coordination and capacity problems affecting regional cooperation.

August 4, 2006

Quotas and Voice - A Possible Package of Reforms

Description: On July 5, the Executive Board had an informal discussion of reforms of quotas and voice as part of the process of formulating reform proposals for the Annual Meetings in Singapore. That discussion confirmed the importance attached by the membership to reaching agreement on a package of quota and voice reforms in Singapore for the Fund’s continued credibility and effectiveness. The discussion also revealed broad support for a reform package along the lines suggested in the staff paper. The support for quota and voice reform across a broad spectrum of the membership indicates that these reforms are not seen as a zero sum game, but rather as change that will strengthen the Fund and from which all members will benefit.

August 4, 2006

Quotas - Updated Calculations

Description: The purpose of this paper is to present the results of updating the data set used for quota calculations through 2004. This updated data set will provide the basis for discussions on possible adjustments in the distribution of quotas in the period leading up to the Annual Meetings. The paper describes the methodologies used to update the data set and discusses the impact of the data update on the distribution of calculated quotas among major country groups. More detailed information on the methodology used and results of the updated quota calculations are presented in the appendices.

Notes:

Quota Data Files

NEW as of February 27, 2007, Electronic Access: Quota Update Tables A1, A2 (Excel file or Zip file)
Spreadsheet containing data for the tables A1 and A2 of the paper Quota--Updated Calculations (2006) modified to reflect the new quotas for China, Korea, Mexico, and Turkey. Data include GDP (gross domestic product), official reserves, current payments, current receipts, variability of current receipts, and variability of current receipts plus net capital flows.

August 4, 2006

Consideration of a New Liquidity Instrument for Market Access Countries

Description: The objective of this paper is to consider key issues in the design of a new liquidity instrument for market access countries. It reviews the motivations and challenges of creating such an instrument and lays out options and issues related to four key design elements. Recognizing the need to consider the relationship between these elements, the paper sets out an example of how they might be combined in a lending instrument – called here the Reserve Augmentation Line, or RAL. It also discusses risks.

July 28, 2006

Report on the Incidence of Longer-Term Program Engagement

Description: During the discussion of the conclusions of the Task Force on Prolonged Use of Fund Resources, the Executive Board requested semi annual reports on the incidence of Longer-Term Program Engagement (LTPE). This is the sixth such report which provides information through June 2006.