News Brief No. 97/09

News Brief: Experts Begin External Evaluation of IMF-Supported ESAF Programs

May 9, 1997

The Management of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced today that independent external experts have begun an evaluation of several aspects of ESAF-supported programs under terms of reference adopted by the IMF Executive Board in October 1996 (see News Brief No. 96/12). The external evaluation of the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) is being undertaken in the framework of Fund policy for evaluation of key instruments of the institution, and is being coordinated by a committee of Executive Directors on behalf of the Executive Board.

The four experts are:

Dr. Kwesi Botchwey

Harvard Institute for International Development

Professor Paul Collier

Oxford University

Professor Jan Willem Gunning

Free University, Amsterdam

Professor Koichi Hamada

Yale University

The experts will concentrate particularly on three topics related to ESAF-supported programs: developments in countries' external position; social policies and the composition of government spending; and the determinants and influence of differing degrees of national ownership of the programs. The experts have full access to all information in the IMF and have been invited to conduct all consultations they judge appropriate. They are expected to complete their report by end-1997.