## Capacity Development Thematic Funds ## Source details **Canonical URL:** [Capacity Development Thematic Funds](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/capacity-developement/brochures/capacity-development-thematic-trust-funds-brochure-2025.pdf) ## Other formats - [Markdown version](/-/media/files/capacity-developement/brochures/capacity-development-thematic-trust-funds-brochure-2025.pdf.md) - [Structured JSON version](/-/media/files/capacity-developement/brochures/capacity-development-thematic-trust-funds-brochure-2025.pdf.json) --- ### Purpose and scope - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) invests in capacity development—training and technical assistance—to strengthen economic and financial institutions, promote growth and economic resilience, and build the skills and capabilities of public officials. - Support is global, with a special focus on low-income and developing countries, including those in fragile or conflict-affected situations. - Capacity development is integrated with IMF global economic monitoring and lending operations and extended through a growing online learning program to thousands of officials worldwide. ### Thematic funds overview - The IMF operates five thematic funds concentrating on high-impact areas: - Fiscal Policy Management - Monetary Policy and Financial Systems - Debt Management - Data and Statistics - Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) - These funds pool resources from multiple donor partners to create larger and more flexible resource bases, aiming to meet country needs more effectively and amplify collective impact. - Five funds. One goal: stronger economies. ### AML/CFT Thematic Fund (launched in 2009) - Objective: Strengthen effectiveness of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism frameworks and bolster integrity of the financial sector and broader economy. - Partners listed include: JAPAN, CANADA, FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, KOREA, LUXEMBOURG, THE NETHERLANDS, QATAR, SAUDI ARABIA, SWITZERLAND, UNITED KINGDOM. - Success stories and outcomes: - As part of the project on the misuse of COVID-19 emergency spending and financing, 11 countries (Benin, Chad, Comoros, Costa Rica, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Mali, Mauritania, and Uganda) were supported in adopting and enforcing legal frameworks requiring the publication of the beneficial owners of companies that received procurement contracts. - Jamaica: In February 2020 Jamaica was placed on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list. The IMF assisted the Bank of Jamaica to develop a supervisory tool for remittance institutions; a pilot provided data to prioritize supervisory activities. By June 2024, the FATF commended Jamaica’s significant progress, leading to its removal from the grey list. - Namibia: IMF assistance led to legal and institutional reforms, including technical support to amend over 16 legal acts addressing deficiencies identified in the 2024 grey listing by the FATF, improving compliance ratings with international AML/CFT standards. ### Data for Decisions (D4D) Fund (launched in 2018) - Objective: Provide capacity development in statistics and data analysis to put more and better data in the hands of decision-makers, enhancing evidence-based macroeconomic policies and fostering accountability and transparency. - Partners listed include: JAPAN, CHINA, EUROPEAN UNION, NORWAY. - Success stories and outcomes: - Uzbekistan: Supported in upgrading External Sector Statistics (ESS), improving compilation and dissemination. Rating agencies and investors reacted positively to the publication of the new ESS, which contributed to the government’s ability to issue Eurobonds for the first time. - Burkina Faso: Aligned public sector debt statistics with international standards, improving quality and coverage of debt instruments and enhancing debt management frameworks and early detection of vulnerabilities. - Papua New Guinea: Support enabled more informed oversight and integration of state-owned enterprises (SOE) into broader public sector analysis, improving assessment of macro-fiscal contributions and risks associated with SOEs. ### Debt Management Facility (DMF) — jointly with the World Bank (launched in 2008; administered jointly since 2014) - Objective: Support more than 80 developing countries to strengthen debt management capacity, processes, and institutions through technical assistance, training, and peer-to-peer learning. - Partners listed include: JAPAN, AUSTRIA, EUROPEAN UNION, FRANCE, GERMANY, NORWAY, UNITED STATES, CANADA, THE NETHERLANDS, UNITED KINGDOM, SWITZERLAND. - Success stories and outcomes: - Bangladesh: Faced with high financing needs, reforms enabled development of a local currency bond market, doubling the nominal stock of marketable bonds and securing their inclusion in the FTSE Frontier Emerging Market Bond Index. - Somalia: Launched a quarterly Debt Bulletin and published the 2024 Annual Debt Management Report; developed a medium-term debt management strategy and an annual borrowing plan. - Zambia: Improved cash management and forecasting, producing a comprehensive 2025 cash flow plan; reforms included a ZMW 3.9 billion mop-up and plans to close thousands of government accounts to consolidate liquidity. ### Financial Sector Stability Fund (FSSF) (launched in 2017) - Objective: Promote and strengthen financial sector stability in low- and lower-middle-income countries and fragile and conflict-affected states by diagnosing financial risks and delivering tailored technical assistance and improved financial sector statistics. - Partners listed include: SWEDEN, KOREA, ITALY, GERMANY, LUXEMBOURG, SAUDI ARABIA, SWITZERLAND, UNITED KINGDOM, CHINA. - Success stories and outcomes: - Uzbekistan: IMF-supported reform strengthened central bank analytical and policy tools, developed instruments to assess and monitor systemic risks, aligned the macroprudential framework with international best practices, and initiated periodic publication of a financial stability report. - Nepal: Enhanced data availability and quality for monitoring financial stability, expanded reporting of key financial indicators for banks, non-banks, households, and real estate, and improved data collection from insurance companies and pension funds. - Sierra Leone: A comprehensive review provided a toolbox to strengthen banking supervision and systemic risk monitoring, resulting in increased staffing, extensive training, the setting up of a Financial Policy Committee, and enhancements to the Central Bank’s stress testing framework. ### Global Public Finance Partnership (GPFP) (launched in 2024) - Objective: Provide fiscal capacity development to help member countries build sustainable public finances through strong fiscal policy and management policies and institutions, focusing on revenue mobilization and public spending. - Partners listed include: EUROPEAN UNION, FRANCE, NORWAY, BELGIUM, DENMARK, THE NETHERLANDS, SWEDEN, GERMANY, KOREA, LUXEMBOURG, SAUDI ARABIA, SWITZERLAND, UNITED KINGDOM, JAPAN. - Success stories and outcomes: - Cabo Verde: Increased compliance through digitalization, third-party data collection and cross-matching, including e-invoicing, VAT audit automation, annual accounting data gathering, and risk management. - Mongolia: From 2020 to 2024 the Ministry of Finance boosted the tax-to-GDP ratio by 5 percent, resulting in a $1 billion increase in revenue; process reforms reduced time for tax-risk assessments from months to minutes. - Republic of Congo: Reforms to phase out fuel subsidies included liberalizing aviation fuel prices, increasing prices by 30 percent and saving 0.1 percent of GDP by reducing the subsidy; ongoing work supports broader fuel price-setting and oversight reforms. ### Top IMF capacity development partners and timing - Top partners (Annualized average from FY2021–25, including the costs covered directly by the host countries) include: EUROPEAN UNION, CHINA, SWITZERLAND, AUSTRALIA, SAUDI ARABIA, JAPAN, SINGAPORE, GERMANY, KUWAIT, INDIA, FRANCE, CANADA, KOREA, AUSTRIA, KAZAKHSTAN, MAURITIUS, LUXEMBOURG, SWEDEN, BELGIUM, SPAIN, DENMARK, THE NETHERLANDS, UNITED KINGDOM, UNITED STATES, NORWAY. - Publication date indicated as September 2025. --- _Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/capacity-developement/brochures/capacity-development-thematic-trust-funds-brochure-2025.pdf_