Technical Assistance Reports
2024
November 1, 2024
Colombia: Technical Assistance Report-Scoping Mission to Develop Macroeconomic Forecasting Capacity at the Autonomous Committee for the Fiscal Rule (CARF)
Description: In response to a request from the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, staff from the IMF´s Institute for Capacity Development (ICD) conducted diagnostic work and provided insights to enhance the Autonomous Committee for the Fiscal Rule (CARF)'s technical capacity. This report emphasizes a comprehensive action plan agreed with CARF to develop and institutionalize a new macroeconomic framework using ICD´s Comprehensive Adaptive Expectations Model, integrated with CARF's tools. Anticipated to boost CARF's ability in generating accurate macroeconomic projections and assessments, this macroeconomic framework supports Colombia's policy development and implementation. The plan includes a two-year timetable with virtual engagements and in-person missions, aiming to transfer knowledge and build capacity among CARF's economists.
November 1, 2024
Jamaica: Technical Assistance Report-Systemic Risk Monitoring
Description: The technical assistance mission aimed to build capacity to enhance financial stability analyses and assessments at the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ). It reviewed the latest available Financial Stability Report (FSR) and the analytical toolkit. In particular, the mission assisted the BOJ in estimating sectoral credit risk models to enhance the forward-looking element of its financial stability assessment. The mission explained the Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) approach and provided initial estimates for five sectoral credit risk models, including mortgages to households, personal loans, corporate loans for tourism, corporate loans for construction, and other corporate loans. Additionally, the mission covered topics such as financial stability indicators, credit risk, stress testing, insurance and pension balance sheets, climate risk, interconnectedness, and contagion risk. Several recommendations were provided, covering the FSR, methodological work on the financial stability analytical toolkit, internal and external communication, and data sources and their management. The mission concluded that financial stability should be regarded as equally important as monetary policy and supervision. It emphasized the need for a detailed production plan for the FSR, a comprehensive communication strategy, and the organization of all data in a single data warehouse to support the financial stability analytical toolkit. The mission also highlighted the importance of improving non-bank analyses and regularly reporting on emerging risks, such as climate and cyber risks.
November 1, 2024
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Technical Assistance Report-Technical Assistance Project on Public Debt Projections and Analysis: Scoping Mission
Description: This document outlines the initiation and early stages of a Technical Assistance project designed to enhance the capacity of Mauritania's National Committee on Public Debt (CNDP) in the areas of public debt projection and analysis. Following a request from Mauritanian authorities, IMF ICD staff engaged in comprehensive virtual discussions with the CNDP's Technical Committee in September 2023. A subsequent mission to Nouakchott in January 2024 evaluated the existing capacity and resources at the CNDP for public debt projection and debt sustainability analysis. The IMF team proposed adopting the IMF’s Public Debt Dynamics Tool (DDT), customized for Mauritania's specific economic conditions. This recommendation aims to assist the CNDP in generating reliable medium-term debt projections and analyzing risk scenarios. These scenarios include the impact of natural disasters and explore fiscal adjustment strategies via the non-extractive primary balance to achieve targeted debt levels.
November 1, 2024
Republic of Armenia: Technical Assistance Report-Corporate Income Tax Gap Prediction 2023 Based on Corporate Income Tax Returns
Description: This report presents estimates of predictions of the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) gap for Armenia for 2023. The predicted CIT Gap is based on not-yet audited tax returns. The CIT gap is predicted to be 25.5 to 34.1 percent of potential CIT liability in 2023.
November 1, 2024
Vietnam: Technical Assistance Report-Financial Soundness Indicators Mission (April 3–7, 2023)
Description: The mission worked with officials of the Macroprudential Supervision Department (MSD) of the State Bank of Vietnam (CBS) to enhance the compilation and reporting of financial soundness indicators (FSIs) for deposit takers (DTs). The mission reviewed source data, prepared new spreadsheets, and implemented updated FSIs report forms in line with the 2019 FSIs Compilation Guide. The mission also discussed the potential for compiling FSIs for the rapidly growing insurance sector in Vietnam. Alongside these improvements, the SBV will be able to produce updated and improved FSIs for financial sector surveillance.
October 11, 2024
Montenegro: Technical Assistance Report-Report on External Sector Statistics Mission (July 29-August 9, 2024)
Description: A technical assistance mission on external sector statistics was conducted for the Central Bank of Montenegro (CBM) during July 29 to August 9, 2024. The mission established measures to address the major sources for the large net errors and omissions (NEO) and reduced the average NEO during 2021 to 2023 from 9 percent to 1.1 percent of Gross Domestic Product. The mission also assisted the CBM and the Ministry of Finance in preparing the Template for International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity—a statistical dataset that covers reserves-related data comprehensively.
October 9, 2024
Ukraine: Technical Assistance Report-Report on Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) Mission (July 15–19, 2024)
Description: A technical assistance (TA) mission was conducted from July 15–19, 2024, to assist the State Statistical Service of Ukraine (SSSU) to develop new processes and methods for the compilation of the House Price Index (HPI). This was the second mission of a project that commenced in April 2024. The mission worked closely with the authorities to (i) develop R scripts to clean the listings data received from an online real estate platform, (ii) implement updated methods for index compilation, and (iii) increase the capacity of the SSSU staff.
October 4, 2024
Republic of Slovenia: Technical Assistance Report-Public Investment Management Assessment
Description: Slovenia’s public investment management institutions, as assessed by the PIMA, perform well overall relative to European peers. Availability of funding for public investment, fiscal targets and rules, maintenance funding and monitoring of public assets are areas of strength. Key areas for improvement are appraisal and selection of projects, procurement, and portfolio management and oversight. The near-term challenge will be to address bottlenecks in the execution of capital projects. Over the medium to longer term, tighter fiscal constraints will raise the premium for stronger appraisal and selection processes.
October 4, 2024
Sri Lanka: Technical Assistance Report-Central Bank Risk Management
Description: Since 2015, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has enhanced its risk management through a comprehensive framework and is aiming for an Enterprise Risk Management system. Initiatives like the establishment of the Banking Risk Oversight Committee (BROC) and the Non-Financial Risk Management Committee (NFRMC) have been key in fostering higher-level risk discussions. To further integrate risk management into its culture and operations, the CBSL is focusing on strengthening leadership's engagement in risk management, adopting a risk appetite statement, ensuring targeted training, empowering the risk management function, implementing the 3 Lines Model for clear role delineation, and defining risk tolerance levels with Key Risk Indicators (KRIs). The high-level objectives of the IMF’s engagement with the CBSL include embedding robust risk management practices deeply within the organization, aligning the CBSL’s strategic goals with its risk management efforts, and enhancing decision-making processes to improve efficiency and effectiveness, all in line with the CBSL's legal mandate.
September 23, 2024
Seychelles: Technical Assistance Report-Developing a Framework for Climate Budget Tagging
Description: The Government of Seychelles is committed to promoting environmental sustainability and climate resilience, as demonstrated by its decision to prioritize climate as one of the six key areas in the National Development Strategy for 2024-2028 and through the agreements made under the IMF's Resilience and Sustainability Facility, established in May 2023. A central component of these efforts is the identification of climate-related expenditures. This report outlines the development and phased implementation of a Climate Budget Tagging (CBT) framework in Seychelles. CBT is a tailored process that involves identifying, measuring, and monitoring climate-relevant spending across government, serving as a powerful tool to integrate climate change considerations into the budget cycle. By emphasizing the importance of climate change in resource allocation and execution, CBT enhances the government's ability to prioritize climate action, with the ultimate goal of ensuring alignment with Seychelles' climate commitments and Nationally Determined Contributions.