Policy Papers
2013
September 20, 2013
Update on the Financing of the Fund’s Concessional Assistance and Debt Relief to Low-Income Member Countries
Description: This paper reviews recent developments in financing of the Fund’s concessional lending and debt relief. It reports the latest available data including the pledges made thus far in response to the Managing Director’s fund-raising requests of August 2009 and February and November 2012 aimed at establishing a self-sustained PRGT. The PRGT’s potential self-sustained capacity is discussed in the context of longer-term projections of the demand for concessional lending.
September 9, 2013
2014 Triennial Surveillance Review - Concept Note
Description: With the 2011 TSR laying out a wide ranging agenda for surveillance reform, the 2014 review will take a more narrowly focused approach and be mindful of the need to make cost-neutral recommendations. The themes and associated outputs will cover areas that address the IMF’s core mandate of ensuring the stability of the international monetary system, provide the most value-added for the membership, and leverage the Fund’s comparative advantages. The review will be based on: (i) a review and analysis of Article IV reports and multilateral surveillance products; (ii) guidance from an External Advisory Group at key stages of the exercise; (iii) background studies; and (iv) surveys and interviews with country authorities, staff, and other stakeholders. A review of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) will be conducted separately but concurrently with the TSR, with close coordination between the relevant authoring teams. The TSR will also take into account the findings of other recent work, including the progress report on the implementation of the Financial Surveillance Strategy, the range of papers on debt issues, the LIC pilot on financial depth and macroeconomic policy, the set of Board papers on the experience with unconventional monetary policies and the challenges of exit from these policies, and the planned discussion of communication issues with the Executive Board.
September 6, 2013
2013 Low-Income Countries Global Risks and Vulnerabilities Report
Description:
An assessment of vulnerabilities and risks in LICs remains important both for LICs themselves and for the international community. There are currently 74 LICs, eligible for concessional financing from the Fund. This group of countries has a total population of about 1.3 billion, with an average per capita income of around $850. They typically face the steepest challenges in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and are increasingly the focus of global development assistance to assist them in this endeavor.
This report serves several purposes. It provides a cross-cutting analysis of the economic vulnerabilities of LICs, yielding some general policy conclusions and messages aimed at strengthening their resilience to external shocks. It delivers a richer coverage of developments in LICs than is typically contained in the major IMF multilateral surveillance reports, where analysis is focused primarily on developments in the advanced and emerging market economies. The report serves as an effective outreach tool to country authorities and the wider public. Finally, it provides useful information to other international financial institutions (IFIs) and donors that provide financial resources to LICs on the potential financing needs of these countries under varying global scenarios.
September 3, 2013
Financial Surveillance Strategy - Progress Report
Description:
This note provides background to the informal Board briefing on the one-year progress in implementation of the FSS. The Board will have the opportunity to review progress in implementing the FSS in the context of the 2014 TSR and the 2014 review of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), as well as through periodic reports to the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the semi-annual work program.
See also: FINANCIAL SURVEILLANCE STRATEGY ONE YEAR PROGRESS REPORT PRESENTATION
September 3, 2013
Global Impact and Challenges of Unconventional Monetary Policies
Description: This paper takes stock of unconventional monetary policies (UMP) and their impact so far, and looks ahead towards exit and prospects for policy coordination. It synthesizes earlier staff work on UMP,1 the findings of a substantial and growing academic and central banking literature, as well as further staff analysis contained in the Background Paper. While some widely accepted conclusions have emerged from the large and growing number of studies on UMP, many important questions remain unsettled, as enough time has not elapsed to draw definitive conclusions. In those cases, the paper will pose the relevant questions and provide possible nswers, while recognizing the uncertainty that remains.
September 3, 2013
Global Impact and Challenges of Unconventional Monetary Policies - Background Paper
Description: This paper provides case studies of 13 of the largest non-UMP countries. The case studies begin with an overview of recent macro-economic developments as well as capital flow patterns during the crisis up to the first U.S. tapering announcement in May 2013. Country experiences with capital inflows are judged along five dimensions: (i) the size of capital inflows, (ii) policies used to manage inflows, (iii) external stability, measured by exchange rate overvaluation and current account deficits relative to fundamentals,2 (iv) asset price and credit market reactions, and (v) financial sector stability. Case studies mostly draw on published IMF Staff Reports for each country, as well as the 2013 Pilot External Stability Report (IMF 2013d).
September 3, 2013
IMF Participation in the Regulatory Oversight Committee of the Global Legal Entity Identifier System
Description:
This paper describes the Global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) System and proposes Fund participation in the LEI Regulatory Oversight Committee (ROC) as an observer. An Executive Board decision is required for this purpose and is proposed in this document.
The paper is organized as follows:
- Part I describes the background to and governance structure of the Global LEI System.
- Part II discusses the implications of Fund participation in the ROC as an observer. Part III sets out a proposed decision for Executive Board approval.
August 28, 2013
Trade Interconnectedness - The World with Global Value Chains
Description: The aim of this paper is to address the implications of Global Value Chains (GVCs) for the Fund’s surveillance work. The paper first draws on the World Input-Output Database (WIOD) to document the dynamics of trade linkages between countries and regions through GVCs and its impact on the real economy. The paper then examines the implications of GVCs for the real effective exchange rate (REER), a key tool used at the Fund for bilateral as well as multilateral surveillance work, and shows the potential benefit of revisiting the REER formula in light of the increasing relevance of GVCs. The paper ends with implications of GVCs for trade and trade-related policies and the multilateral trading system.
August 20, 2013
The Fund's Income Position for FY 2013—Actual Outcome
Description: This paper reports the Fund’s income position for FY 2013 following the closing of the Fund’s accounts for the financial year and completion of the external audit. FY 2013 net income, including income from surcharges, amounted to SDR 2.0 billion, and was in line with the April estimate. In accordance with decisions taken in April 2013, a corresponding transfer of currencies has been made from the GRA to the investment account. The placement of the net income to the Fund’s reserves has further strengthened the Fund’s precautionary balances, which reached SDR 11.5 billion at the end of FY 2013.
July 23, 2013
Quota Formula - Data Update and Further Considerations
Description:
The IMF staff has updated individual member country data for the variables used in the quota formula for the period 1999-2011; the tables also include the comparable value of each variable for the previous quota dataset, which was based on data covering the period 1998-2010. The information is presented in millions of SDRs (Table A1) and in percent of their respective global totals (Tables A2 and A3).
A table showing calculated quota shares based on the quota formula is also included (Table A4). The current quota formula includes a GDP variable, which is a blend of GDP at market rates and GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP), openness, variability, and international reserves (see Box 1 in Reform of Quota and Voice in the International Monetary Fund-Draft Report of the Executive Board to the Board of Governors).
Data sources and a description of the quota variables are discussed in Quota Formula – Data Update and Further Considerations - Statistical Appendix; IMF Policy Paper; June 2013.
Download Quota Data:
Updated IMF Quota Formula Variables - July 2013