BIENNIAL REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION OF FUND SURVEILLANCE AND OF 1977 SURVEILLANCE REVIEW-CHANGES IN ARTICLE IV CONSULTATION CYCLES

1. Each member presently receiving financial assistance under a Fund arrangement shall immediately be placed on the 24-month consultation cycle and, in future, whenever a Fund arrangement is approved for a member, that member shall automatically be placed on the 24-month consultation cycle. Article IV consultations with such members shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures specified below.

2. Article IV consultations with a member receiving financial assistance under a Fund arrangement will be expected to be completed within 24 months of the date of completion of the previous Article IV consultation with that member, except that the consultation cycle will be shortened under the following circumstances:

(a) where the most recent Article IV consultation with the member was completed 6 months or more before the date of approval of the relevant arrangement, the next Article IV consultation with that member will be expected to be completed by the later of (i) 6 months after the date of approval of the arrangement, and (ii) 12 months, plus a grace period of three months, after the date of completion of the previous Article IV consultation; and

(b) where, with respect to a member whose circumstances do not fall within paragraph 2(a), a program review under an arrangement for that member is not completed by the date for completion specified in the arrangement, the next Article IV consultation with that member will be expected to be completed by the later of (i) 6 months after the date specified in the arrangement for completion of the review, and (ii) 12 months, plus a grace period of 3 months, after the date of completion of the previous Article IV consultation, provided, however, that, where the relevant program review is completed before the later of the dates specified in (i) and (ii) above, the next Article IV consultation will be expected to be completed within 24 months of the date of completion of the previous Article IV consultation with that member.

3. Upon the expiration or cancellation of an arrangement for a member, that member shall automatically be placed on the standard 12-month consultation cycle and the next Article IV consultation with that member will be expected to be completed by the later of (i) 6 months after such expiration or cancellation, and (ii) 12 months, plus a grace period of 3 months, after the date of completion of the previous Article IV consultation, but in no event later than 24 months after the completion of the previous Article IV consultation. (SM/02/184, Sup. 1, 6/18/02, Sup. 3, 9/5/02)

4. Whenever a Policy Support Instrument ("PSI") is approved for a member, that member shall automatically be placed on a 24-month Article IV consultation cycle. If, however, the last Article IV consultation was completed 6 months or more before the approval of the PSI, the next consultation is expected to be completed by the later of 12 months (plus the usual 3-month grace period) after the last consultation or 6 months after the approval of the PSI. Following termination of a PSI-whether through expiry or lapse-the member is automatically placed back on the standard 12-month cycle and the first consultation is expected to be completed by the later of 6 months after the end of the PSI or 12 months (plus a grace period of 3 months) after the completion of the previous consultation but in no event later than 24 months after the completion of the previous consultation. (SM/05/343, Sup. 1, 9/30/05)

Decision No. 12794-(02/76),
July 15, 2002,
as amended by Decision Nos. 12854-(02/96), September 12, 2002,
and 13562-(05/85),
October 5, 2005