News Brief: The Work Program of the IMF's Executive Board

July 2, 1999

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today releases for the first time a summary of the work program of its Executive Board for the next few months as a step in increasing public awareness of the IMF's activities.

The work program is a road map for the work of the IMF's Executive Board, which consists of the 24 officials appointed or elected by the IMF's 182 member countries, and which meets on a regular basis to assess economic developments in individual and regional economies and the world economy, and to discuss and decide on the IMF's loans to member countries, as well as general policy issues affecting the international financial system.

"The release of the work program summary is an important step to enhance the transparency of the IMF's operations. Taken together with other recent actions, today's release shows a continued commitment to increase IMF openness," said Shailendra J. Anjaria, Director of the IMF's External Relations Department. The work program is prepared in the light of discussions each spring and fall at the IMF's Interim Committee, the ministerial body that considers the activities of the IMF. The current work program looks ahead to the fall meeting of the Interim Committee, scheduled for September 26, 1999, and to the Joint Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group to be held September 28-30, 1999.

Key Elements of the Work Program

The Board's agenda in the period ahead covers many issues, with two central special themes: reform of the architecture of the international financial system, and a strengthened framework for debt relief for the world's poorest countries, including the IMF's contribution to this latter initiative and the IMF's support for its poorest members.

Reform of the International Financial Architecture: The new work program calls for discussion in four areas: involving the private sector in forestalling and resolving financial crises; analyzing key issues concerning exchange rate regimes, both among major international currencies and in emerging market economies; capital account liberalization, including the role of capital controls; and standards and transparency. The Board will build on the progress made in the reform of the international financial architecture, including by ensuring that reforms already agreed on are incorporated into the regular work of the IMF, as appropriate.

The Board will also review the experience of producing a series of experimental case studies of transparency practices in individual countries, and it will evaluate a revised version of the Code of Good Practices on Transparency in Monetary and Financial Policies.

The Board has requested staff papers on architecture issues for consideration in the period after the Annual Meetings, including a study of offshore banking and offshore financial centers, and a review of IMF data standards, a central component of efforts to enhance transparency.

HIPC and ESAF: The Board will consider a joint IMF-World Bank report on the review of the Initiative for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), focusing on the steps to enhance the link between HIPC Initiative assistance and poverty reduction. The report will build upon the initial IMF-World Bank HIPC review, which was presented to the boards of both institutions in April, and which brought a call from the IMF Interim Committee for redoubled efforts to secure full financing for HIPC and the continuation of the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF). Proposals for modifying the HIPC Initiative in light of the views of the international community will be submitted for the Board's consideration.

The HIPC Initiative is a joint IMF-World Bank effort to provide debt relief to a group of poor countries undertaking economic reform; ESAF is the IMF's concessional lending window, which also benefits poor countries.

The Board will also consider papers on possible modalities for conducting IMF gold sales to support its ESAF lending and its contribution to the HIPC Initiative, as well as a paper containing a comprehensive set of proposals for future funding of the ESAF and the HIPC Initiative. The IMF's decisions on these issues will be considered in the light of the Board's discussions.

In addition, reflecting the increased focus on the social content of IMF-supported programs and following the recent external evaluation of the ESAF, the Board will review a paper on the IMF's approach to social sector issues and policies aimed at strengthening the integration of social issues into the IMF's policy advice and operations, in particular in ESAF, HIPC and crisis countries.

Among the other topics contained in the Board's Work Program:

· The Fall 1999 World Economic Outlook, which will re-assess global economic conditions and prospects, with particular attention to prospects and policies for more evenly balanced growth among the major industrial countries, and the progress of the recoveries in the emerging market economies that suffered financial crises. The report will also consider the policies needed to safeguard macroeconomic stability at low inflation;

· The 1999 International Capital Markets Report, which will analyze how market participants, regulators and governments are responding to the challenges posed by the market turbulence experienced following the Russian debt default;

· A paper on financial sector crisis and restructuring, which will draw upon the lessons of IMF-supported programs in Asia;

· Reports on external evaluation of IMF economic research activities and of IMF surveillance; and

· A full range of individual country discussions, including around 90 separate Article IV country surveillance discussions, and financial arrangements with member countries.