Procedures for Dealing with Members with Overdue Financial Obligations to the General Department and the SDR Department, Executive Board Meeting 89/101, July 27, 1989

The Fund, as a cooperative institution, relies on the mutually supportive actions of its membership in all areas of its endeavors. Overdue financial obligations are a breach of obligations to the Fund and are demonstrably a noncooperative action, which imposes financial cost on the Fund’s membership, impairs its capacity to assist members, and more generally weakens the Fund’s ability to perform its broader responsibilities in the international financial system.

As the experience with arrears demonstrates, countries which accumulate arrears to the Fund also damage themselves, in part through the deterioration which inevitably follows in their financial relations with other creditors. When arrears exist the Fund is not able to provide its own assistance and its effectiveness is diminished as a catalyst for helping the country restore regular financial relations with other creditors.

This statement outlines procedures aimed at preventing the emergence of overdue financial obligations to the Fund and the elimination of existing overdues, including protracted arrears. The need for flexibility in the implementation of the Fund’s policies dealing with overdues has been stressed in the past; flexibility must continue to be exercised in order to take account of the specific circumstances of the member. Nonetheless, a balance must be struck between the need for appropriate flexibility and the need for clear and credible procedures that act as a deterrent to members against incurring arrears and to encourage members with overdues to become current.

Arrears prevention

The importance of preventing new cases of arrears has been stressed by the Executive Board. As noted in the past, our best safeguard is the quality of Fund arrangements and we will continue to direct our efforts to ensure that arrangements of the highest quality are placed before the Board. These efforts would include assisting members to design strong and comprehensive economic programs, careful attention to access levels and phasing, explicit assessment of a member’s capacity and willingness to repay the Fund, and adequate assurances regarding external financing during the period of the Fund arrangement. Special understandings with creditors and donors may also need to be sought in certain cases to help assure progress toward external viability. In some cases, specific financial or administrative arrangements designed to ensure that forthcoming obligations to the Fund are settled on time will be used to increase the assurance that the Fund’s resources will be repaid on time. Moreover, the importance of members remaining current on obligations falling due and observing the Fund’s preferred creditor status will continue to be stressed.

The Fund’s response to overdue obligations

The Fund has developed a set of procedures for dealing with members with overdue financial obligations which are designed to bring about a reduction and the eventual elimination of these overdue obligations. In addition to the procedures set out below, the Fund makes an effort to assist members willing to cooperate to eliminate their arrears through the design and implementation of appropriate policies as well as to help members adopting these policies to secure the necessary financial support.

The procedures initiated immediately after a member falls into arrears provide for a sequence of actions by management, the staff, and the Executive Board.

• —Whenever a member fails to settle an obligation on time, the staff immediately sends a cable urging the member to make the payment promptly; this communication is followed up through the office of the Executive Director concerned.

  —When an obligation has been outstanding for two weeks, management sends a communication to the Governor for that member stressing the seriousness of the failure to meet obligations to the Fund and urging full and prompt settlement. The Executive Board understands that the Governor will bring this communication and the circumstances that gave rise to it to the attention of his authorities at the highest level. The communication to the Governor would also note that unless payment is received in due course, the Managing Director would intend to raise with the Executive Board the possibility of communicating with Governors of the Fund concerning the situation. The Managing Director has on occasion raised the matter of overdue financial obligations to the Fund directly with the head of government of the member concerned, and he would intend to continue to do so in those cases where he believes it would be a useful procedure.

  —The Managing Director notifies the Executive Board normally one month after an obligation has become overdue.

  —When the longest overdue obligation has been outstanding for six weeks, the Managing Director informs the member concerned that unless the overdue obligations are settled a complaint will be issued to the Executive Board in two weeks’ time.

The Managing Director would in each case recommend to the Executive Board whether a communication should be sent to a selected set of Fund Governors, or to all Fund Governors. If it were considered that it should be sent to a selected set of Fund Governors, an informal meeting of Executive Directors would be held, some six weeks after the emergence of overdues, to consider the thrust of the communication. Alternatively, if it were considered that the communication should be sent to all Fund Governors, a formal Board meeting would be held to consider a draft text and the preferred timing. A sample text for a communication to all Fund Governors is set out in Attachment I.

• —A complaint by the Managing Director is issued two months after an obligation has become overdue, and is given substantive consideration by the Executive Board one month later. At that stage, the Executive Board has usually decided to limit the member’s use of the general resources, and if the member has overdue obligations in the SDR Department, to suspend its right to use SDRs, and has provided for a subsequent review of the decision. This and subsequent review periods would normally not exceed three months. It would be understood that the Managing Director may recommend advancing the Executive Board’s consideration of the complaint regarding the member’s overdues.

When a member has overdue financial obligations outstanding for more than three months, a brief factual statement noting the existence and the amount of such arrears will be posted on the member’s country-specific page on the Fund’s external website. The statement will be updated as necessary. It will also indicate that the member’s access to the Fund, including PRGF and HIPC resources, has been and will remain suspended for as long as arrears remain outstanding.

A press release will be issued following the Executive Board’s decision to limit the member’s use of the general resources or, if the member has overdue obligations in the SDR Department, to suspend its right to use SDRs. A similar press release will be issued following a decision to lift such limitation or suspension.

• —The Annual Report and the financial statements identify those members with overdue obligations outstanding for more than six months.

Beyond these procedures, the Executive Board has expressed its intention to provide that a member must first discharge its overdue financial obligations to the General Resources Account before it would be permitted to pay for an increase in its quota under the Ninth General Review, and that, in the event the quota payment were not made within a prescribed period, the proposal for an increase in the member’s quota would lapse.

Another measure being considered by the staff relates to the possibility of withholding SDR allocations for members with arrears in the General Department. This measure would require an amendment of the Articles and will be examined further in the next Six-Monthly Report on Overdue Financial Obligations.

Declaration of ineligibility

• —If a member persists in its failure to settle its overdue obligations to the Fund, the Executive Board declares the member ineligible to use the general resources of the Fund. The timing of the declaration of ineligibility would vary according to the Board’s assessment of the specific circumstances and of the efforts being made by the member to fulfill its financial obligations to the Fund. The procedures for dealing with members with protracted arrears that have been declared ineligible include further reviews at intervals of not more than six months. Such reviews may be postponed for periods of up to one year however in exceptional circumstances where the Managing Director judges that there is no basis for an earlier evaluation of the member’s cooperation with the Fund.¹

  —For members with protracted arrears willing to cooperate with the Fund in settling those overdues, the Fund has adopted an intensified collaborative approach, which incorporates exceptional efforts by the international financial community.

  —For members that are judged not to be cooperating actively with the Fund, remedial measures would be applied.

  —Members not showing a clear willingness to cooperate with the Fund have been informed that in these circumstances the provision of technical assistance would be inappropriate, but the Fund would reconsider providing technical assistance once the member has resumed active cooperation. The Managing Director may also limit technical assistance provided to a member, if in his judgment that assistance was not contributing adequately to the resolution of the problems associated with overdues to the Fund.

  —A further remedial measure in cases of protracted arrears would be communications with all Governors of the Fund and with heads of certain international financial institutions. Use of such communications would normally be raised for the Executive Board’s consideration at the time of the first post-ineligibility review of the member’s arrears. At that time the staff would prepare a draft text of a communication along the lines set out in Attachment II to this statement. It should be noted that the Fund’s communication to certain other international financial institutions, such as the three main regional development banks (Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank), like its communication to the Governors, would not request the addressee to take specific actions and would leave any action to the institution’s discretion. This does not preclude informal contacts with other international financial institutions. The staff would intend to propose to send this latter type of communication on the occasion of the next post-ineligibility review for members that at present have arrears that have been outstanding for a protracted period, in the event the Executive Board judges that the member concerned is not cooperating actively with the Fund in efforts to resolve the problem of its overdue financial obligations to the Fund.

Censure or declaration of noncooperation

• —A declaration of censure or noncooperation would come as an intermediate step between a declaration of ineligibility and a resolution on compulsory withdrawal The decision as to whether to issue such a declaration would be based on an assessment of the member’s performance in the settlement of its arrears to the Fund and of its efforts, in consultation with the Fund, to follow appropriate policies for the settlement of its arrears. Three related tests would be germane to this decision regarding (i) the member’s performance in meeting its financial obligations to the Fund taking account of exogenous factors that may have affected the member’s performance; (ii) whether the member had made payments to other creditors while continuing to be in arrears to the Fund; and (iii) the preparedness of the member to adopt comprehensive adjustment policies. The declaration would follow any communication to Governors after ineligibility and would be considered at a subsequent post-ineligibility review. The period between such communications and the declaration could be about six months, but this time period would be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Upon a declaration of noncooperation, technical assistance to the member will be suspended unless the Executive Board decides otherwise. (EBS/01/122, 7/13/01)

A draft of the declaration is set out in Attachment III. The actual declaration would be based on this draft text taking account of the circumstances of the individual case. The declaration would be adopted by the Executive Board and published.

Other remedial measures

• —On suspension of membership, Directors noted the necessity of amending the Fund’s Articles of Agreement to provide for suspension of membership. Some Directors showed an interest in introducing a provision into the Articles of Agreement under which the voting rights of a member that has been declared ineligible to use the Fund’s general resources could be suspended. However, most Directors felt that it would not be advisable to propose an amendment of the Fund’s Articles of Agreement at this time, but that this matter could be reconsidered in the future.

  —Finally, Directors noted the availability to the Fund of procedures under Section 22 of the By-Laws on compulsory withdrawal. These procedures would only be pursued once the Fund has exhausted all other possible avenues to redress the problem of overdue financial obligations and, despite a declaration of noncooperation, the member has not exhibited a willingness to cooperate with the Fund. The Articles of Agreement and the By-Laws provide for procedures for settling claims by the Fund on a member in the event that it withdraws from the Fund. If the procedures were initiated, the staff would prepare an analysis of the effect of the member’s withdrawal on the Fund’s financial position.

Attachment I

Draft First Letter to All Governors

Dear:

The Executive Board has considered the complaint which was recently issued regarding [member]’s overdue financial obligations to the Fund. In considering this complaint the Executive Board has agreed that I write to all Governors of the Fund to draw their attention to this development. Prompt and effective actions now by [member] and the international community would avoid a further deterioration of this situation including the possibility of declaring [member] ineligible to use the general resources of the Fund, would permit these overdues to be cleared before their magnitude makes the problem more intractable, and before they place a financial burden on other members.

[Paragraph on background circumstances of member leading to the emergence of arrears, the views of the member regarding its overdue obligations, and the member’s intended approach for addressing the problem of its overdue obligations. This paragraph would be tailored to the specific circumstances of the member concerned.]

The Executive Board is very concerned about these developments which have serious potential implications both for the [member] and for the Fund as a whole, if the problem is not resolved early. The existence of these overdue financial obligations to the Fund precludes the Fund from extending financial assistance to the member. In addition, experience to date indicates that when a country incurs arrears to the Fund its financial relations with other creditors are also likely to deteriorate. These arrears also have an adverse impact on the Fund as an international financial cooperative, which is the central monetary institution in the international monetary system. As you are aware, overdue obligations, if they are not settled, place a financial burden on other members: on the Fund’s debtor members in the form of higher charges and the Fund’s creditors in the form of reduced remuneration.

The Fund would greatly appreciate any assistance in urging the member to effect the full and prompt settlement of its overdue obligations to the Fund.

Sincerely yours,

Michel Camdessus Managing Director and Chairman of the Executive Board

Attachment II

Draft Second Letter to All Governors and Certain International Financial Institutions

Dear:

The Executive Board has reviewed the overdue financial obligations of [member] and its circumstances. In this context it agreed that I write to all Governors of the Fund to seek their assistance in resolving the problem of [member]’s overdue financial obligations to the Fund [and that I inform at the same time the heads of [names of certain international financial institutions].

As you know, [member] was declared ineligible to use the general resources of the Fund on [date], as it had failed to meet its financial obligations to the Fund. As of [date], [member]’s overdue financial obligations to the Fund amounted to SDR[ ] million and the longest overdue obligation had been outstanding for [ ] months. As you are aware, these overdue obligations reduce Fund resources available to help other members and place a financial burden on debtor members in the form of higher charges and on creditor members in the form of reduced remuneration.

[Paragraph on background circumstances of member leading to the emergence of arrears, the views of the member regarding its overdue obligations, and the member’s intended approach for addressing the problem of its overdue obligations. This paragraph would be tailored to the specific circumstances of the member concerned.]

The Fund has developed a set of procedures, including the intensified collaborative approach, for dealing, as appropriate, with members that have overdue financial obligations outstanding for a protracted period. The application of the procedures for members in arrears up to now has not resulted in [member] taking steps that could be expected to resolve promptly the problem of its arrears to the Fund. If, in the period prior to the next review of [member]’s arrears, [member] does not take action to demonstrate its willingness to resume active cooperation with the Fund toward the resolution of the problem of its arrears, [member] may be subject to a declaration of noncooperation. This would be a most serious step that would involve the publication of this declaration, which would refer, inter alia, to the availability to the Fund of procedures under Section 22 of the By-Laws on compulsory withdrawal of [member] from the Fund. The Fund’s Executive Board has emphasized the critical stage that has been reached with respect to [member]’s arrears and has stressed its sincere hope that the consideration of further steps will be unnecessary. The Fund would appreciate your [Government/institution] taking whatever actions it considers appropriate to help bring about an early resolution of this situation.

The Executive Board will review again the position of [member] with regard to its arrears to the Fund not later than [date].

Sincerely yours,

Michel Camdessus Managing Director and Chairman of the Executive Board

Attachment III

Draft Declaration on Censure or Noncooperation

The Fund notes that, since the declaration of ineligibility of [date], the member has remained in arrears in its financial obligations to the Fund, thus persisting in its failure to fulfill its obligations under the Articles, and that the level of its arrears has not decreased (or has increased);

[notes that the member has made payments to other creditors while not discharging its financial obligations to the Fund (or not to the same extent), thus ignoring the preferred creditor status that members are expected to give to the Fund;]

finds that the member is not cooperating with the Fund toward the discharge of its financial obligations to the Fund;

urges the member to discharge its financial obligations to the Fund promptly and to cooperate with the Fund;

reminds the member that arrears to the Fund, which is a cooperative institution, are detrimental to the whole membership of the Fund in that they hamper the proper performance by the Fund of its function of assisting members facing balance of payments difficulties;

reminds the member that members in breach of their obligations to the Fund may be subject to the procedures under Section 22 of the By-Laws leading to compulsory withdrawal.

EBM/89/100 and 89/101,

July 27, 1989,

as amended by Decision No. 12546-(01/84),

August 22, 2001

¹ Ed. Note: This sentence was added by Decision No. 15225-(12/83), August 27, 2012.