Technical Notes and Manuals
Technical Notes and Manuals are produced by IMF departments to expand the dissemination of their technical assistance advice. These papers present general advice and guidance, drawn in part from unpublished technical assistance reports, to a broader audience. This new series launched in September 2009.
2023
June 5, 2023
User Manual for the DIGNAD Toolkit
Description: This note is a user’s manual for the DIGNAD toolkit, an application aimed at facilitating the use of the DIGNAD model (Debt-Investment-Growth and Natural Disasters) by economists with no to little knowledge of MATLAB and Dynare via a user-friendly Excel-based interface. DIGNAD is a dynamic general equilibrium model of a small open economy developed at the International Monetary Fund. The model can help economists and policymakers with quantitative assessments and policy scenario analysis of the macrofiscal effects of natural disasters and adaptation infrastructure investments in low-income developing countries and emerging markets. DIGNAD is tailored to disaster-prone countries, which typically are small countries or low-income countries that are particularly exposed to large climate shocks—countries where shocks that can disrupt the entire economy are frequent. However, DIGNAD can be relevant also for larger countries that may potentially be exposed to extreme climatic disasters in the future.
May 12, 2023
The Corruption Cost Tracker: An Online Tool to Assess Corruption Risks in Public Procurement
Description: This TNM addresses the assessment of corruption risks in public procurement and their impact on relative prices. The note presents the Corruption Cost Tracker, an online tool complementing the analysis presented in Abdou and others (2022). The Corruption Cost Tracker enables policymakers and stakeholders to address corruption risks in public procurement. It is an interactive online tool, with dashboards for Corruption Risk Analysis, Spending Analysis, Efficiency Gains, and Policy Scenarios.
2022
October 3, 2022
Special Purpose Entities: Guidelines for a Data Template
Description: The Note is meant to assist compilers in the practical application of the agreed defini¬tion to identify resident Special Purpose Entities (SPE) in their jurisdictions and in collecting and reporting SPE-related cross-border data. To this end, these guidelines provide practical advice on the (1) implementa¬tion of the definition of SPEs, (2) possible data sources and processes for collecting and compiling SPE-related statistics, and (3) reporting within the agreed Data Template.
October 3, 2022
IMF Engagement on Social Safety Net Issues in Surveillance and Program Work
Description: The International Monetary Fund’s engagement on social safety net (SSN) issues is likely to expand as member countries respond to growing challenges in the economic and fiscal landscape. SSNs play a crucial role in protecting households from poverty, promoting inclusive growth, and maintaining social stability. This technical note discusses (1) the different channels through which SSN spending may become macro-critical, (2) how to assess the importance of these channels, and (3) the types of policy responses that are appropriate and the trade-offs involved in choosing among them. To facilitate a more comprehensive assessment of SSN spending, the paper also examines the complementary role of labor market programs (for example, unemployment benefits and active labor market programs). The paper emphasizes the importance of early engagement and coordination with development partners with expertise on social safety nets and with different stakeholders when formulating policy advice.
August 26, 2022
Revenue Administration: Compliance Risk Management: Overarching Framework to Drive Revenue Performance
Description: This technical note describes CRM at a high level and how tax administrations can implement a CRM framework to significantly strengthen revenue outcomes. A tax administration’s primary role is to collect revenues on behalf of government to fund the country’s social and economic goals. Taxpayers are expected to comply with their tax obligations as stated in the law. Compliance is the degree to which taxpayers meet their obligations, whether voluntarily or through efforts by the tax administration to enforce compliance. Using CRM allows a country to optimize its revenue collection by identifying and focusing resources on the highest risks to the tax base. While the concepts of CRM are transferable to the customs context, this note focuses on tax administration compliance risks.
June 15, 2022
IMF Engagement on Pension Issues in Surveillance and Program Work
Description: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is increasingly involved in offering policy advice on public pension issues to member countries. Public pension spending is important from both fiscal and welfare perspectives. Pension policy and its reforms can have significant fiscal and distribution implications, can influence labor supply and labor demand decisions, and may impact consumption and savings behavior. This technical note provides guidance on assessing public pension systems’ macrocriticality, i.e., sustainability, adequacy, and efficiency; it also discusses the issues and policy trade-offs to be considered when designing responses aiming to address these dimensions of the pension system. The paper emphasizes the importance of taking a long-term, comprehensive perspective when evaluating public pension spending and providing policy advice. Where feasible, reforms should be gradual and transparent to allow individuals ample time to adjust their work and savings decisions and to facilitate consumption smoothing over their lifecycle to avoid poverty in old age. It is also important to ensure that pension systems’ design and reforms do not lead to undesirable impacts in other policy areas including general tax compliance, health insurance coverage, labor force participation among older workers, or labor market informality. The paper emphasizes the importance country-specific social and economic objectives and constraints, as well as political economy realities – factors that can determine whether a pension reform is a success or failure.
June 7, 2022
How to Record the Allocations of Special Drawing Rights in Government Finance Statistics
Description: This note provides statistical guidance to IMF staff and country authorities on the recording of the 2021 general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) in the government finance statistics (GFS), which is also applicable to previous SDR allocations. SDR allocations received by members are recorded as a liability in the form of SDR allocations vis-à-vis the SDR Department of the IMF, which is part of gross debt of the public sector unit (Ministry of Finance/Treasury or central bank or other publicly controlled entity) on whose balance sheet SDRs are recorded, with a corresponding entry for SDR holdings as a financial asset. No transfer of wealth occurs due to the SDR allocation. It should be stressed that the statistical guidelines do not specify on whose balance sheet SDR holdings and allocations should be recorded, as this decision is determined by the member’s domestic legal and institutional arrangements.
April 6, 2022
Voluntary Disclosure Programs — Design, Principles, and Implementation Considerations
Description: This note explores the conditions, design elements, and implementation considerations of a successful voluntary disclosure program (VDP), including its compliance with anti–money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) international standards. The note emphasizes that such a program must be offered in the context of a considerably strengthened and credible enforcement capacity—one that is explicitly publicized to taxpayers—to avoid undermining tax morale.
March 18, 2022
Compliance Risk Management: Developing Compliance Improvement Plans
Description: All tax administrations seek to maximize the overall level of compliance with tax laws. Compliance improvement plans (CIPs) are a valuable tool for increasing taxpayers’ compliance and boosting tax revenue. This note is intended to help tax administrations develop a CIP, by providing guidance on the following issues: (1) how to identify and rate compliance risks; (2) how to treat risks to achieve the best possible outcome; and (3) how to measure the impacts that treatments have had on compliance outcomes.
2021
September 21, 2021
Business Continuity Planning for Government Cash and Debt Management
Description: Cash and debt management operations are part of the “transactional” functions of public financial management. It is critical that these functions are resilient to external disruptions, ranging from information and communication technology (ICT) system outages to natural disasters. This technical manual aims to provide guidance on the steps that government cash and debt management units can follow to develop and implement a practical business continuity plan that economizes the resources used. It also discusses the evolving nature of business disruption risks faced by cash and debt management over the last decade, including the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as risk mitigation solutions that have emerged.