## 2023 D4D Fund Annual Report and Work Plan ## Source details **Canonical URL:** [2023 D4D Fund Annual Report and Work Plan](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/capacity-developement/d4d/june-2023/2023-d4d-fund-annual-report-and-work-plan.pdf) ## Other formats - [Markdown version](/-/media/files/capacity-developement/d4d/june-2023/2023-d4d-fund-annual-report-and-work-plan.pdf.md) - [Structured JSON version](/-/media/files/capacity-developement/d4d/june-2023/2023-d4d-fund-annual-report-and-work-plan.pdf.json) --- ### Executive summary — overview and context - The IMF continued to deliver the Data for Decisions (D4D) Fund program guided by Steering Committee priorities amid a challenging post-pandemic capacity development (CD) environment (IMF Statistics Department). - Most missions in the current D4D Fund cycle are follow-ups that require CD-recipients to implement prior recommendations, contributing to a lower-than-expected level of CD delivery during the period under review. - Over three-quarters of D4D-eligible countries have benefitted from the initiative since inception; almost all eligible countries from Africa have benefitted. - Africa and fragile and conflict-affected states (FCS) remained the focus of D4D-funded CD. ### Major program outputs and modalities - Online learning curriculum: - Seven online courses on macroeconomic statistics launched; some available in several languages; 10,000 learners benefited. - Blended learning (online theoretical content + instructor-led application sessions) is integrated across work streams and is a core CD modality. - Financial Access Survey (FAS): - FAS reporting recovered from the pandemic and has broadly met strategic log frame outcomes, though continuous year-to-year efforts are needed to maintain momentum. ### Strategic proposals and Steering Committee decisions requested - The IMF seeks the Steering Committee’s endorsement of: - (i) the new work plan and associated budget; - (ii) the installation of an external sector statistics (ESS) expert in Central Africa; and - (iii) continuation of flexible rules established by the June 2020 Steering Committee regarding country eligibility to the D4D Fund for the new work plan. ### Key constraints and risks - Slow transition of CD demand from near- to medium-term needs; return to in-person CD delivery; sequencing challenges. - Persistent absorption capacity constraints and data quality concerns about ESS in Central Africa. - NSOs in low- and lower middle-income countries (LLMICs) most affected by the pandemic are taking longer to recover due to reduced funding and increased data production costs. - Russia’s war in Ukraine and banking sector vulnerabilities pose risks to global recovery and national statistical system funding. --- ### Building resilient national statistical systems post-pandemic — principal findings - LLMIC NSOs with fewer resources found it harder to engineer agile pandemic responses and now face greater resource challenges, risking widening pre-existing data production inequalities. - National and international funding to statistics in LLMICs declined during the pandemic, with potentially negative consequences for evidence-based policymaking. - Adverse economic conditions, fiscal crunches, competing needs, and inflation contributed to funding shortfalls for national statistical programs; many LLMICs are not yet at pre-pandemic statistical activity levels. - Some development partners are retooling national statistics systems via new coordination and funding mechanisms. ### Emerging demand areas and D4D positioning - Increased requests for support in gender, inequality, climate change, and digital money statistics. - Momentum from the G20 Data Gaps Initiative (DGI-3) is driving demand to mainstream new statistical products. - The planned second phase of the D4D Fund will: - introduce a new work stream on climate-related statistics; - support eligible countries on data dissemination standards; - assist implementation of the 2025 updates to the balance of payments manual and system of national accounts. - Since inception in 2018, the D4D Fund has enabled IMF support to members most in need and consolidated IMF statistics CD, supporting flexible resource allocation and efficiency gains. - The new work plan (May 2023 to October 2024) will support about two thirds of the IMF’s externally financed headquarters-based statistics CD. --- ### Delivery of D4D-funded capacity development — implementation performance - Planned vs implemented: - Of 207 planned CD activities for the 18-month work plan, 81 activities were implemented during the 12 months of FY 2023. - Sequencing and delivery mode issues: - Many missions are follow-ups requiring 6 to 10 months for countries to implement recommendations, with longer durations for FCS. - Joint or consecutive activities with RCDCs were delayed to ensure better sequencing and adequate refresher training. - Switching from remote to in-person delivery required extra preparation time, delaying some ESS activities. - Ad hoc remote assistance: - During May 2022–April 2023, STA responded to 55 requests for ad hoc assistance (half the level of the prior fiscal year but similar to FY 2021). - Budget utilization for ad hoc advisory services: $183,115 spent of the $292,000 budget; STA proposes to utilize the remainder until the end of Phase I. ### Eligibility and geographic focus - October 2022: Steering Committee temporarily granted D4D eligibility to five countries near the LLMIC income threshold; four benefited from D4D-funded statistics CD. - Among 87 eligible countries in FY 2023, 29 are FCS and benefited from D4D-funded CD despite widespread IT and connectivity problems. - Only five FCS—most facing adverse political or security situations—did not benefit from D4D-funded CD in this cycle. --- ### Strategic log frame reporting — outcomes and interim ratings - Mid-term evaluation completed; most strategic log frame outcomes expected to be largely or fully achieved by end of Phase I. - Outcomes fully or largely achieved: - FAS: broadly on target; provides long time series on financial access (FAS-1) and monitoring basis for SDG financial inclusion indicator (FAS-3). - Online learning: seven out of eight initially planned online courses launched; Module 3 nearly on target and expected to exceed target once 12 courses developed by end of Phase I; about 10,000 participants so far. - Work streams with mixed progress: - Faster progress where CD was frontloaded: fiscal and debt statistics. - Slower outcomes: ESS (slower consolidation despite geographic coverage exceeding targets), NAS (medium-term CD interrupted), HFI and RPPI (new products delayed), Statistical Information Management. - Interim ratings (selected): - HFIs Interim Rating: 1.0 - National Accounts Benchmarking Interim Rating: 1.1 - RPPI Interim Rating: 2.4 - ESS overall interim rating shown: 2.0 (ESS-1 Top 15 countries: 2. 3; ESS-2 Top 15 countries: 2.4; Overall score 1.8 noted) - GFS Top 25 countries: 2.8; GFS Overall score: 2.6 - PSDS Interim Rating: 1.9 - FAS-1 Interim Rating: 4; FAS-2 Interim Rating: 3.3; FAS-3 Interim Rating: 4; FAS-4 Interim Rating: 3.5 - Module 3 (Online Training) Interim Rating: 3.8 - Statistical Information Management Interim Rating: 2.5 --- ### Proposed operational innovation — ESS long-term resident advisor (LTX) pilot - Proposal details: - Install a D4D-funded long-term ESS resident advisor (LTX) at the RCDC covering Central Africa for a 12-month pilot starting October 2023. - Beneficiary countries (nine): Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and São Tomé and Príncipe. - Rationale and expected benefits: - Effective where CD demands across countries are similar and require sustained engagement. - Aligns with IMF FCS strategy recommending increased resident advisors for FCS. - Expected outcomes after one year: - Improvements in coverage, compilation and dissemination of BOP, IIP and EDS in all beneficiary countries. - Improvements in periodicity and timeliness of external sector data in all beneficiary countries. - Anticipated operational gains: strengthen STA CD footprint, boost results, efficiency gains and cost savings in FCS environments, accelerate implementation of previous TA actions, strengthen country ownership, increase accountability, improve responsiveness, and enhance absorption through frequent follow-up. --- ### Module-level highlights and planned activities (May 2023 – October 2024) - Module 1 — Real Sector Statistics (RSS) and HFIs: - Objective: support robust macroeconomic statistics (real, external, fiscal) for policy analysis and risk monitoring. - HFIs: experimental MIEG developed in Bhutan, Togo, and Uganda; preparedness for wider dissemination; FY 2024 engagements expected in Central African Republic, Ghana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and a mission to Bolivia. - National accounts rebasing/benchmarking: recent rebasing in Cambodia (from 2000 to 2014) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (from 2005 to 2018); planned GDP rebasing support for Bhutan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo. - RPPI: several country achievements and planned support (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Georgia, Jordan, Mongolia, Philippines, Suriname, Tunisia); AFR RPPI workshop (25 staff from 12 countries) conducted. - Module 1 — External Sector Statistics (ESS): - FY 2023: 8 CD activities; blended international reserves workshops with a 90 percent course evaluation completion rate; country-level missions with measurable impacts (e.g., Sierra Leone exports revised up by 46.7 percent; other investment liabilities up by 30.1 percent; errors and omissions reduced by 61.8 percent over 2018–2021). - Future thematic focus: trade in services, digital trade, cross-border digitalization transactions. - Eighteen placeholder missions to maintain flexibility. - Module 1 — Fiscal and Debt Reporting (GFS and PSDS): - FY 2023 delivery: 23 bilateral CD activities and 2 blended learning courses. - Ad hoc demand: 36 requests from 20 countries. - Measurable impacts: Georgia SOE compilation covering 17 large non-market SOEs representing around 90 percent of non-market SOEs’ annual turnover; SOE revenue 3.5 percent of GDP and expenditure 3.4 percent of GDP for FY 2021 (net lending 0.1 percent of GDP). - Forward program: proposed 62 CD activities in next 18 months (29 on PSDS; 33 on GFS), with at least one third expected jointly with RCDCs. - Module 2 — Financial Access Survey (FAS): - Reporting recovery: 167 countries reported in 2022 (as of March 2023); mobile money reporting reached 86 in 2022; gender-disaggregated data reporters reached 82 in 2022 including 43 LLMICs. - FCS reporting: 26 countries reported to FAS in 2022 (same as 2021), covering close to two thirds of the FCS grouping. - Pilot survey objectives: assess feasibility of collecting data on digital financial services, expand mobile money coverage, add fintech credit products, and collect gender-disaggregated SME finance data; pilot budget neutral within current resources. - Planned outputs include advisory group formation, development of a tool summarizing main FAS indicators, and research outputs (a book chapter and an IMF Working Paper on Kenya using Google MAP Places API geolocational data). - Module 3 — Online Learning: - Progress: seven online courses launched (EDSx launched November 2022; QNA/HFIx launched February 2023); FSIx and PPIx development started in FY 2023. - Participant reach: almost 10,000 participants across 44 course offerings as of April 5, 2023; over half of participants from LLMICs; average of one out of six active participants from an FCS. - Multimedia: IMF Institute Learning Channel subscribers increased from 10.5K to 13.6K over the past year; 141 video clips with statistics content generated almost 60,000 views. - Future: complete 12-course curriculum by end of work plan; translate five additional courses into French and Spanish; develop MFSx, ISAx, and RPPIx. - Module 4 — Statistical Information Management: - SDMX CD supports e-GDDS and SDDS Plus and NSDP development. - Tunisia confirmed a new SDMX-enabled NSDP (March 2023) pending final clearance. - Two SDMX workshops conducted with African Development Bank; staff turnover identified as a key challenge. - Planned three additional AFR workshops and three placeholder missions for FY24 outreach. --- ### Financial situation and budgetary requests (Phase I: FY 2019–FY 2025) - At June 2022 meeting: Steering Committee endorsed an 18-month work plan and approved cumulative projected spending of $25.5 million by end-FY 2023. - Actual cumulative spending by end-FY 2023: $19.6 million. - Partner contributions signed: $31.7 million; contributions received: $30.5 million. - Fundraising focus: IMF will focus on fundraising for a second phase starting in FY 2026. - Proposed additional budget for May 2023 to October 2024: - Additional budget required: $5.0 million (proposed work program). - Spending forecast: $4.5 million for October 2023 – April 2024; $3.7 million for May – October 2024. - Budget items (preserved entries): - Module 1, Sub Module Real Sector Statistics — $6.04 million - Module 1, Sub Module External Sector Statistics — $4.60 million - Module 1, Sub Module Fiscal and Debt Reporting — $5.62 million - Module 1, Ad Hoc Advisory Services — $0.29 million - Module 2: Financial Access Survey — $3.59 million - Module 3: Online Learning — $7.40 million - Module 4: Statistical Information Management — $0.66 million - Resource Management Program Manager — $1.46 million - Country Eligibility Criteria — - - Long-Term Expert on External Sector Statistics — - - Additional budget requested to Steering Committee for new work plan: $4,960,214 (Table 4). - Financial reporting dates: - Financial Contributions Report for Phase I: As of April 30, 2023 (in $). - Cash Flow Statement: As of April 30, 2023 (in $ Million). - Notes: FY 2024 and FY 2025 projected outflows represent indicative budget per work plan; FY 2025 expenses include two months of FY 2026 until June 2025. - Donor engagement: - Two virtual check-in meetings planned in October 2023 and January 2024; annual meeting in June 2024. - Korea agreed to serve as Chair of the D4D Fund SC after the 6th annual SC meeting; Norway thanked for SC leadership. --- ### Mid-term evaluation findings and governance implications - Independent mid-term evaluation completed; final report shared with the D4D Fund Steering Committee in January 2023. - Key findings: - D4D Fund highly relevant and largely effective in building capacity on data compilation and dissemination. - Key recommendations: - Move from CD delivery to a change management approach to increase likelihood that short-term CD effects translate into longer-term institutional changes and policy improvements. - Target and track results at the data usage level. - Continue institutionalizing the blended CD delivery model. - IMF will present an action plan addressing recommendations at the D4D Fund SC meeting in June 2023; evaluation will inform design of the second phase starting summer 2025. --- *Source: IMF Statistics Department, 2023 D4D Fund Annual Report and Work Plan (May 2023 – October 2024 work plan).* ### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY __________________________________________________________________________ 5 ### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ### Overview and context - The IMF continued to deliver the Data for Decisions (D4D) Fund program guided by the key priorities set by the Steering Committee amid a challenging post-pandemic capacity development (CD) environment. - At this stage of the D4D Fund cycle, most missions are follow-ups that require CD-recipients to implement recommendations from previous missions as a basis for impactful follow-ups, which contributed to a lower-than-expected level of CD delivery during the period under review. - Over three-quarters of the D4D-eligible countries have benefitted from the initiative since it was established in response to the pandemic, including almost all eligible countries from Africa. - Africa and fragile and conflict-affected states (FCS) remained the focus of D4D-funded CD. ### Major program outputs and modalities - Development of the comprehensive high-quality online learning curriculum is on track. - Seven online courses on macroeconomic statistics have already been launched—with some available in several languages—and have already benefited 10,000 learners. - The blended learning approach that combines online theoretical content with interactive, instructor-led application sessions is integrated across work streams and is a core CD modality. - Financial Access Survey (FAS) reporting has recovered from the pandemic and has broadly met the strategic log frame outcomes, though continuous year-to-year efforts are needed to maintain momentum. ### Strategic proposals and decisions requested from the Steering Committee - The IMF seeks the Steering Committee’s endorsement of: - (i) the new work plan and associated budget; - (ii) the installation of an external sector statistics (ESS) expert in Central Africa; and - (iii) the continuation of flexible rules established by the June 2020 Steering Committee regarding country eligibility to the D4D Fund for the new work plan. ### Key constraints and risks - Slow transition of demand for CD from near- to medium-term needs; a return to in-person CD delivery; and challenges in sequencing activities were the main hindrances to implementation. - Persistent absorption capacity constraints and data quality concerns about external sector statistics (ESS) in Central Africa. - National statistical offices (NSOs) in low- and lower middle-income countries (LLMICs) affected most deeply by the pandemic are taking longer to recover due to reduced funding and increased costs of producing traditional socio-economic datasets. - Russia’s war in Ukraine—and more recently banking sector vulnerabilities—pose risks to global economic recovery, implying that national statistical systems are likely to continue to face funding challenges. ### Development partner actions and coordination - The Bern Network on Financing Data for Development launched the Clearinghouse for Financing Development Data to match supply and demand for funding for data and statistics. - The World Bank confirmed a strong commitment to statistical development via: - The Data for Policy Initiative of IDA; and - The setting-up of a Global Data Facility with a funding objective of $200 million over ten years. - The first set of regional statistics projects for West and Central Africa, with a budget of about $1 billion, focuses on statistical infrastructure and census and survey program funding. - Coordination between the IMF and World Bank has intensified to ensure cross-fertilization between projects and alignment of definitions and concepts with international statistical frameworks, including IMF data standards. ### Proposed operational innovation - Amid persistent ESS challenges in Central Africa, the IMF proposes to temporarily post a long-term ESS expert in the region: - Pilot period: 12 months. - Purpose: deliver tailored technical assistance on ESS to sub-regional countries (most of them FCS), and to foster closer cooperation with other development partners, especially the World Bank. --- ### I. BUILDING RESILIENT NATIONAL STATISTICAL SYSTEMS POST-PANDEMIC ### Principal findings - LLMIC NSOs with fewer resources found it harder to engineer an agile pandemic response and now face greater resource challenges, risking widening pre-existing data production inequalities. - National and international funding to statistics in LLMICs declined during the pandemic, with potentially negative consequences for evidence-based policymaking. - Adverse economic conditions, fiscal crunches, competing needs, and inflation have contributed to funding shortfalls for national statistical programs; many LLMICs are not yet able to resume statistical activity at pre-pandemic levels. - Some development partners are retooling national statistics systems to address these challenges via new coordination and funding mechanisms. ### Emerging demand areas - Requests for support in new statistics areas have increased: gender, inequality, climate change, and digital money. - Momentum from the G20 Data Gaps Initiative (DGI-3) Recommendations is driving demand to mainstream new statistical products. - The planned second phase of the D4D Fund will aim to more systematically address DGI-3 recommendations by introducing a new work stream on climate-related statistics, supporting eligible countries on data dissemination standards, and assisting implementation of the 2025 updates to the balance of payments manual and system of national accounts. ### Role and positioning of the D4D Fund - Since inception in 2018, the D4D Fund has enabled the IMF to support members most in need to develop better data for decision-making and positioned the IMF among global providers of statistics CD. - The consolidation of IMF statistics CD under the D4D Fund has enabled more flexible resource allocation and efficiency gains. - The new work plan running from May 2023 to October 2024 will support about two thirds of the IMF’s externally financed headquarters-based statistics CD. --- ### II. DELIVERY OF D4D-FUNDED CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT POST-PANDEMIC – CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES ### Implementation performance and sequencing issues - Of the 207 planned CD activities for the 18-month work plan, 81 activities were implemented during the 12 months of fiscal year (FY) 2023. - For many sub-modules, especially fiscal and debt reporting, the slower implementation reflected the D4D Fund Phase I cycle dynamics: most missions are follow-ups that typically require 6 to 10 months for countries to implement prior recommendations, with longer durations for FCS. - CD delivery sequencing and the return to in-person delivery impacted the pace of implementation: - Joint or consecutive activities with IMF Regional Capacity Development Centers (RCDCs) were delayed to ensure better sequencing and adequate refresher training by RCDCs before advanced D4D interventions. - Switching from remote to in-person delivery required extra preparation time for some ESS activities, delaying implementation. - Under the assumption that pandemic-related constraints continue to ease and in reflection of declared country interest, most activities that could not take place were rolled into the new FY 2024 – FY 2025 Q2 work plan. ### Ad hoc and targeted remote assistance - Short, targeted, and remote ad hoc interventions remained significant post-pandemic. - During May 2022–April 2023, the IMF’s Statistics Department (STA) responded to 55 requests for ad hoc assistance (half the level of the prior fiscal year but similar to FY 2021). - Demand for assistance with Public Sector Debt Statistics/Government Finance Statistics (PSDS/GFS) predominated, with requests primarily from Africa. - Budget utilization for ad hoc advisory services: $183,115 of the $292,000 budget endorsed for ad hoc advisory services was spent so far; STA proposes to utilize the remainder of the current envelope to respond to emerging demands until the end of Phase I. ### Eligibility and geographic focus - In October 2022, the Steering Committee temporarily granted D4D eligibility to five countries near the LLMIC income threshold; four of these countries benefitted from D4D-funded statistics CD and participated in workshops or received technical assistance. - A continuation of this eligibility extension to the next work plan is proposed, with the same criteria. - Among the 87 eligible countries in FY 2023, a third—or 29—are FCS and benefited from D4D-funded CD despite widespread IT and connectivity problems in many of these countries. - Only five FCS—most of them facing adverse political or security situations—did not benefit from D4D-funded CD in this work plan cycle. --- ### III. INTERIM FUND STRATEGIC LOG FRAME REPORTING - The FAS reporting has broadly met the strategic log frame outcomes due to sustained IMF engagement with reporting countries, but continuous efforts are necessary each year to maintain reporting momentum among IMF-member countries. - The D4D Fund’s consolidation and the design of work plans are aligned with the strategic log frame; progress monitoring against outcome indicators is ongoing (referenced figures and annexed log frame and interim rating). - The proposed field pilot of a long-term ESS expert in Central Africa is presented as an innovative approach to advance progress toward the D4D Fund strategic objective and to strengthen cooperation with development partners. *Source: IMF Statistics Department, D4D Fund Executive Summary and related sections (May 2023 – October 2024 work plan).* ### 11. Progress towards the D4D Fund strategic log frame outcomes varied across work streams, ### 11. Progress towards the D4D Fund strategic log frame outcomes varied across work streams ### Overall progress and outlook - With the mid-term evaluation completed and the second half of Phase I underway, most strategic log frame outcomes are expected to be largely or fully achieved by the end of Phase I. - Taking stock of progress is intended to inform the design of the next work plans until the end of Phase I. - Detailed outcome ratings are presented in Annex I of the D4D Fund work program. ### Outcomes fully or largely achieved - Financial Access Survey (FAS) and online learning: - FAS is broadly on target and provides long time series on financial access (FAS-1) and the monitoring basis for the SDGs financial inclusion indicator (FAS-3). - Seven out of eight initially planned online courses have been launched; Module 3 is almost on target and will exceed the target once 12 courses have been developed by the end of Phase I. - Translation of the curriculum into French and Spanish has increased reach, with about 10,000 participants in D4D-funded online learning courses so far. ### Work streams with mixed progress and delays - Faster progress where CD was frontloaded: - Fiscal and debt statistics showed advances due to frontloaded CD activity. - Slower outcomes where activity was phased in or interrupted: - External Sector Statistics (ESS) outcomes are slower to consolidate at the country level despite geographic coverage exceeding targets. - National Accounts Statistics (NAS) outcomes slowed because medium-term CD activity was interrupted by the pandemic. - High-Frequency Indicators (HFI) and Real Property Price Indexes (RPPI) faced delays because these are newer statistical products and CD was delayed during the pandemic. - Statistical Information Management progress was delayed for similar reasons. ### Innovative ESS approach: D4D-funded long-term resident advisor (LTX) - Proposal: - Install a D4D-funded long-term ESS resident advisor (long-term expert or LTX) at the RCDC covering Central Africa for one year starting from October 2023. - The LTX would serve nine countries: Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and São Tomé and Príncipe. - Rationale and expected benefits: - Effective where CD demands across countries are similar and require long-term sustained engagement. - Aligns with the IMF’s FCS strategy recommending an increase in resident advisors for FCS. - Will strengthen STA CD footprint, be close to recipient countries, boost results, and may lead to efficiency gains and cost savings in FCS environments. - Regular short visits and continuous close interventions aim to accelerate ESS progress, especially in improving balance of payments (BOP) statistics, international investment position (IIP), and external debt statistics (EDS). - Expected to facilitate implementation of actions identified by previous TA missions, strengthen country ownership, increase accountability, improve responsiveness to TA needs, enhance absorption through frequent follow-up, and strengthen partnerships with other CD providers. - Key expected outcomes after one year: - Improvements in the coverage, compilation and dissemination of BOP, IIP and EDS in all beneficiary countries. - Improvements in the periodicity and timeliness of external sector data in all beneficiary countries. ### Macroeconomic policy relevance - CD by the LTX is expected to significantly improve monitoring of macroeconomic developments and assist policymaking. - Specific gaps noted: - In the CEMAC region, discontinuation of regional central bank TA on compiling BOP data left a gap in the quality, timeliness, and accuracy of external sector data. - Similar gaps documented in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and São Tomé and Príncipe. - Historical note: - A four-year STA project on external sector statistics for West and Central Africa, funded under the Japan Sub Account, ended in 2020. ### Financial situation of the D4D Fund (Phase I: FY 2019–FY 2025) - Utilization and spending to date: - At its June 2022 meeting, the Steering Committee endorsed an 18-month work plan and approved cumulative projected spending of $25.5 million by end-FY 2023. - Actual cumulative spending by end-FY 2023 was $19.6 million. - Partner contributions and receipts: - Partners signed for a total of $31.7 million in contributions, of which $30.5 million have been received. - Fundraising focus: - The IMF will focus on fundraising for a second phase of the D4D Fund, to start in FY 2026. - Proposed additional budget for May 2023 to October 2024: - The proposed work program will require an additional budget of $5.0 million. - Spending is forecast at $4.5 million for October 2023 – April 2024, and $3.7 million for May – October 2024. - The budget includes stationing an LTX in Central Africa for 12 months under the ESS work stream and assumes CD activities will be delivered mostly in-person while completing online course development and translations. - Projections remain subject to moderate uncertainty about the balance between remote, blended and in-person CD delivery post-pandemic and to price movements in travel-related services. - Financial reporting dates cited: - Financial Contributions Report for Phase I: As of April 30, 2023 (in $). - Cash Flow Statement: As of April 30, 2023 (in $ Million). - Notes include that FY 2024 and FY 2025 projected outflows represent indicative budget per work plan and that FY 2025 expenses include two months of FY 2026 until June 2025. ### Work plan delivery mode and implementation (May 2023 – October 2024) - Delivery modalities: - With IMF staff travel resuming, the work plan assumes a majority of in-country missions and blended formats for training workshops. - In-person CD is expected to help restore networks strained during the pandemic; remote CD advantages will be leveraged for continuous engagement and timelier follow-up. - Blended training combines asynchronous online theory with synchronous instructor-led hands-on application and generates cost savings versus traditional in-person workshops. - Emphasis: - Deliver CD that addresses medium-term strategic log frame objectives, while maintaining support for urgent, ad hoc CD needs. ### Module I: Addressing Data Needs and Quality Concerns — Real Sector Statistics (RSS) and High-Frequency Indicators (HFIs) - Module objective: - Support development of more robust and consistent macroeconomic statistics (real, external, and fiscal) to improve evidence-based policy analysis, early detection, and monitoring of economic risk and vulnerabilities. - RSS implementation status: - Pace of reforms in RSS continued to be slow as several NSOs in LLMICs focused on maintaining core statistical production. - CD activities on HFIs and RPPIs were delayed, although demand for CD on source data development for national accounts rebasing/benchmarking showed signs of recovery. - HFIs work stream specifics: - Demand for HFI TA remained subdued as NSOs prioritized business continuity for annual and quarterly GDP production. - Demand for HFI training has recently increased. - STA conducted outreach to IMF Area Departments and national authorities; the FY 2024 – FY 2025 Q2 work plan reflects received requests and a list of countries identified by IMF country teams as potential beneficiaries. - HFIs cover a range of monthly indicators, including industrial production indexes (IPIs), Monthly Indicators of Economic Activity (MIEG) as well as composite leading and sentiment indicators; within national accounts the focus is on MIEGs and IPIs, with QNA CD provided when monthly indicators are not readily developable. - Progress achieved on HFIs and next steps: - Experimental MIEG developed in Bhutan, Togo, and Uganda; preparations underway for wider dissemination. - In Bhutan, experimental MIEG development benefited from synergy between D4D-funded support and SARTTAC CD; a three-day knowledge sharing event in June 2022 consolidated inter-agency coordination and identified next steps to improve MIEG series and data sharing. - Mauritania: CD targeted an improved index of industrial production with follow-up planned for publication of updated series by end-2023. - Togo: experimental MIEG compiled and disseminated within government; public dissemination pending. - Uganda: authorities are strengthening activity estimates and integrating with QNA; public dissemination tentatively planned later in the year. - Training and outreach: - Training attracted participants from NSOs, central banks, and ministries of finance. - April 2023 AFR regional workshop: 23 participants from 16 countries, delivered in blended format leveraging the online QNA/HFIx course under Module 3. - Outreach translated into new requests to start HFI development in FY 2024 from Central African Republic, Ghana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. - Sierra Leone requested continuation of HFI development in FY 2024 following prior progress. - Planned support for indices of industrial production or other monthly sectoral indices in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Sri Lanka, and Uganda; a first mission to Bolivia is planned to define the scope. - Three HFI training activities planned for FY 2024 across AFR, MCD, and WHD regions to build awareness and generate demand. - Table 5 highlights (work plan changes): - Net change in country entries for HFIs: -4 (Country TBD entries decreased by 7; AFR Workshop +1; MCD Workshop +1; WHD Workshop +1). - Legend: Dark green – Endorsed and conducted; Light green – Endorsed and planned; Orange – Additions or changes that need endorsement. *Source: D4D Fund Annual Report and Work Plan, IMF Statistics Department (STA).* ### 29. Several countries advanced projects to create new comprehensive national accounts ### 29. Several countries advanced projects to create new comprehensive national accounts benchmarks ### Overview - D4D-funded technical assistance supported statistical offices in replanning and preparing to field new source data surveys to support national accounts rebasing following pandemic-induced delays. - In many countries these surveys will follow the 2020-cycle population censuses. - The lifting of most travel restrictions accelerated in‑country mission delivery: of the 18 activities executed in this work stream in FY 2023, 15 were conducted in person. - FY 2023 country delivery concentrated on AFR (11 activities) and APD (6 activities) regions, with planned expansion to the MCD region in the next year. ### Progress Achieved — benchmark revisions and source data - Rebased GDP estimates were developed and reviewed in: - Cambodia (current vintage based on reference year 2000 prior to rebasing) - Democratic Republic of the Congo (current vintage based on reference year 2005 prior to rebasing) - Assistance provided to: - Philippines — develop chain volume measures of GDP - Senegal — improve compilation of natural resource projects in the national accounts - Support to improve informal activity measurement: - Sierra Leone and Vietnam — improved estimates of informal activity, including through use of household survey data - Note: informal activity accounts for more than half of economic activity in most LLMICs and is poorly measured - Supply, use, and input‑output tables (SUIT): - A SUIT compilation workshop was conducted for countries in the APD region - Support provided to Guinea to compile a planned benchmark revision using SUIT - Institutional data access: - Malawi — CD supported development of a formal memorandum of agreement between the statistical office and the tax authorities - Producer price indexes (PPIs): - India — support to develop new PPIs - Côte d’Ivoire and Sri Lanka — support to expand coverage of PPIs to the services sectors - A regional MCD workshop identified additional countries interested in developing new PPIs - Consumer price index (CPI) support: - AFR regional workshops to improve harmonized CPI compilation for WAEMU member countries - Cambodia — technical assistance to update the CPI basket and sample ### Work program priorities and planned activities (moving forward) - Country selection will be driven by the objective of strengthening capacity to meet international rebasing standards. - Planned GDP rebasing support: Bhutan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo. - Projects to improve measures of informal activity: Sierra Leone and Vietnam (to be completed). - Continued efforts to improve source data: Cambodia and Lesotho. - SUIT development: - Introductory workshop planned for countries in the AFR region - Advanced workshop planned for countries in the APD region - Technical assistance to Mauritania - PPI development and expansion planned for: Bangladesh, India, Lebanon, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka. - Additional planned support: - Philippines — development of chained volume measures - Côte d’Ivoire — export and import price indexes - CPI workshops for WAEMU and CEMAC member countries, and support for Kiribati - AFR region in‑person workshop planned on data sources and methods for recording digital‑based activities in the national accounts. - The work plan includes four placeholder countries to ensure agility in responding to emerging demand during the period. ### FY 2019–FY 2025 activity summary (selected items and net change) - FY 2019–FY 2023 activity highlights included multiple country engagements and workshops across regions (AFR, APD, MCD, EUR, WHD). - FY 2024 – FY 2025 (Q2) planned activities include, among others: - Burundi; Central African Republic; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Côte d'Ivoire (2); Bhutan (2); India; Lesotho; AFR Digital Economy Workshop; Bangladesh (2) +1; Kiribati; Lebanon; Mauritania (2) +1; Vietnam (2) +1; Country TBD (3) → Country TBD (4) +1; CPIx SPOC; AFR Workshop on Prices (2) +1; Cambodia +1; Pakistan +1; Philippines (3) +3; Sierra Leone +1; Sri Lanka +1; AFR SUIT Workshop +1; APD SUIT Workshop +1 - Table summary line: Net change +14 ### Key implications and priorities - Improving measurement of informal activity and expanding source data (PPIs, SUIT, CPI updates) are central to producing comprehensive national accounts benchmarks in many beneficiary countries. - Institutional arrangements for administrative data sharing (example: Malawi MoU) and capacity building through workshops and in‑country missions are critical enablers. - Continued regional workshops and targeted country technical assistance will support alignment with international rebasing standards and address data gaps, including measurement of digital‑based activities. *Source: 2023 D4D Fund Annual Report and Work Plan, Statistics Department, IMF.* ### 40. Elevated public debt-to-GDP ratios pose a growing challenge for policymakers, particularly ### Elevated public debt-to-GDP ratios pose a growing challenge for policymakers, particularly ### Debt vulnerabilities and the role of capacity development (CD) - The 2023 D4D Fund Annual Report and Work Plan notes that the share of LLMICs assessed as having a high risk of debt distress or in debt distress as of January 2023 was broadly similar to that of LLMICs in the mid-1990 prior to the launch of the HIPC Initiative. - Reducing debt ratios consistently and sustainably requires strong institutional frameworks to prevent operations that undermine debt reduction efforts and ensure that countries build resilience and reduce debt during good times (IMF, 2023). - CD under the fiscal and debt reporting submodule will continue to support countries to develop and strengthen capacities to collect and compile fiscal and debt data that allow identification and mitigation of risks that may undermine debt reduction efforts. ### Progress achieved in fiscal and debt reporting CD (FY 2023) - Pace of CD delivery plateaued in FY 2023 after frontloading of activities. - Delivered in FY 2023: - 23 bilateral CD activities - 2 blended learning courses - Compared to the prior year: - 24 bilateral CD activities and 4 multi-country CD activities in the year before. - Training emphasis: - All but one technical assistance mission embedded a training component (the exception was Armenia which involved desk work and hands-on remote technical support on expenditure classifications). - Ad hoc demand: - 36 ad hoc requests from 20 countries; main topics included recording issuance of Islamic finance debt securities (Sukuk bonds), classification of debt-related transactions, and operations with SOEs. ### Implementation constraints and scheduling - Almost half of the 18-month work plan's CD activities were delivered during FY 2023; the remainder is scheduled for FY 2024. - Activities initially planned for Afghanistan and Ukraine were cancelled until conditions support re-engagement. - Follow-up CD activities for Armenia, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Papua New Guinea, Uzbekistan, and Yemen could not take place in FY 2023 due to longer implementation timelines of prior recommendations. - Postponements due to constraints: - Absorptive capacity/staffing availability (example: Mongolia) - Shift in priorities/needs for CD (examples: Egypt, Morocco) - Unused placeholder missions for on-demand CD were rescheduled to the next work plan. ### Measurable impacts and specific country outcomes - Expansion of instrument and institutional coverage of debt, compilation of SOE statistics, and data dissemination improved where activities were carried out. - Georgia follow-up mission: - Supported compilation of statements of operations and balance sheets for 17 large non-market SOEs for FY 2021, representing around 90 percent of all non-market SOEs’ annual turnover. - Reported non-market SOE revenue amounted to 3.5 percent of GDP and expenditure to 3.4 percent of GDP—resulting in a fiscal surplus (net lending) of 0.1 percent of GDP for FY 2021. - Missions to Chad, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu, and Uzbekistan supported compilation or resumption of reporting to the joint IMF and World Bank Quarterly Public Sector Debt (QPSD) database. - Missions to Sierra Leone, Togo, Zimbabwe helped improve debt instrument and institutional coverage. - GFS-focused CD: - Targeted source data, classifications, consistency between above- and below-the-line transactions and stocks and flows, coverage of fiscal statistics, and consolidation. - Missions to Bolivia, Eswatini, Ghana, Haiti, and Sudan addressed source data and compilation processes. - Madagascar mission supported consolidation of GFS for all sub-sectors, enabling consolidated general government GFS compilation and dissemination. ### Forward program and delivery modalities - Proposed next 18 months work plan schedules a total of 62 CD activities: - 29 on PSDS - 33 on GFS - Delivery approach: - Expect more joint activities between the D4D Fund and RCDCs to leverage synergies: RCDC-led training on “bread-and-butter” issues paired with D4D Fund-led support on more complex issues. - At least a third of CD activities in the proposed work plan is expected to be delivered jointly with RCDCs (compared to five jointly delivered during FY 2023). - Training roll-out: - Continuous rolling out of the GFSx and PSDSx in English, French and Spanish under Module 3. - Planned workshop targeting West African countries on COFOG classification. - GFSx small private online course (SPOC) in Spanish for a closed group of officials from WHD eligible countries augmented with live virtual sessions. --- ### Financial Access Survey (FAS): objectives and progress - Purpose: - The FAS database collects supply-side information on financial access and usage to inform policymakers designing policies to address inequality in financial inclusion. - FAS collects administrative data annually from regulatory/supervisory institutions including central banks, complementing demand-side surveys such as the World Bank’s Findex. Progress achieved - Reporting recovery and coverage: - After a pandemic-related drop, the number of FAS reporters recovered to 167 countries in 2022 (as of March 2023). - Mobile money reporting reached 86 in 2022 with four new reporters, including two LLMICs. - Number of countries reporting gender-disaggregated data reached 82 in 2022 including 43 LLMICs. - Countries reporting data on mobile and internet banking increased; 14 jurisdictions started reporting these data, including ten LLMICs. - Fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS): - 26 countries reported to FAS in 2022 (same as in 2021), covering close to two thirds of the FCS grouping. Outreach and capacity development - FAS CD and outreach increased with a growing focus on data usage: - Three regional FAS webinars delivered (two for APD in June 2022 and one for WHD in January 2023). - FAS team contributed to UN ESCWA SDG indicators webinar (July 2022). - FAS gender-disaggregated data presented at an IMF internal training event (September 2022). - Contribution to Institute for Capacity Development course “Gender Inequality and Macroeconomics” (delivered virtually November 2022 from IMF Middle East Center for Economics and Finance). - Presentation at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation workshop (September 2022) with external partners. FAS pilot data collection and consultations - Rationale: - The FAS questionnaire remained unchanged since the 2019 streamlining to limit reporting burden; evolving financial landscape created demand for data on digital financial services and expanded gender-disaggregation. - Pilot objectives and scope: - Assess feasibility of collecting more relevant data on digital financial services including fintech, expand mobile money coverage (e.g., mobile money-enabled bank accounts), add fintech credit products, and collect gender-disaggregated data on SME finance. - Pilot to be conducted outside the regular FAS cycle using a separate questionnaire to avoid reporting burden; pilot is budget neutral within current resources. - Consultations held with stakeholders included: - World Bank’s Findex Team, January 2023 (virtual) - United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development’s office, February 2023 (virtual) - G20’s Global Partnership of Financial Inclusion, March 2023 (in person) - Additional consultations with Women’s Financial Inclusion Data Partnership; IMF Gender Working Group; Women Entrepreneurs-Finance Code Team; IMF’s Fintech and Digital Money Working Group; and feedback sessions during recent FAS webinars. Data validation and tools - Enhanced validation tools: - Automated data visualization of country-level data and outlier detection implemented; further automation under development. FAS future work plan - Delivery modalities: - In-person regional workshops will resume as appropriate while maintaining webinars; two in-person workshops planned in the MCD and APD regions and a first-time EUR webinar to improve regional reporting. - Workshops and webinars will emphasize FAS data usage and showcase country experiences. - Planned activities: - Launch of the pilot survey to expand fintech and gender-disaggregated coverage; pilot findings will inform future questionnaire revisions. - Close coordination of the FAS pilot with the World Bank (Findex) under DGI-3 Recommendation 12: Fintech-enabled Financial Inclusion. - Stocktaking exercise and related workshop on fintech-related data as inputs to the pilot. - Continued exploration of non-traditional data sources, including potential collaboration with the United Nations Capital Development Fund for bank pricing market-research data. - Formation of an advisory group of stakeholders, FAS reporting countries, and academia to provide feedback on FAS development. - Development of a tool summarizing main FAS indicators with ready-to-use charts and tables for IMF staff analysis and improved data validation. - Research outputs in preparation: - A book chapter, “Women’s Financial Access in Sub-Saharan Africa,” featuring FAS gender-disaggregated data for an upcoming IMF book on gender equality and economic development for Sub-Saharan African countries. - An IMF Working Paper, “Evaluating Financial Access Points in Kenya with Non-Traditional Data,” at an advanced stage; it adopts an experimental approach examining financial access via ATMs and mobile money in Kenya using geolocational data from Google MAP Places API. *Source: 2023 D4D Fund Annual Report and Work Plan, IMF Statistics Department.* ### 54. The rollout of the online learning curriculum has been broadly on track, and participant ### 2023-d4d-fund-annual-report-and-work-plan - 54. The rollout of the online learning curriculum has been broadly on track, and participant ### Online learning rollout and modality - Over half of the curriculum (or seven online courses) are now available to the public, with translations and further course developments unfolding as planned. - The IMF has advanced the blended modality approach to capacity development (CD) delivery, yielding impressive learning gains and positive participant reviews. - Blended courses combine remote asynchronous components with in-person synchronous sessions; development requires additional resources, including support from learning experts from the IMF’s Institute of Capacity Development, but travel and hotel savings far offset development costs. ### Progress achieved on course development and launches - EDSx launched in November 2022. - QNA/HFIx launched in February 2023. - Development of Financial Soundness Indicators (FSIx) and PPIx online courses started in FY 2023. - French and Spanish versions of BOP-IIPx and NASx were launched in May 2022 and April 2023, respectively. - Development and launch objective: ten fundamental statistics courses (English and up to five other languages) (M3). ### Participant reach and key statistics (as of April 5, 2023) - Almost 10,000 participants have benefitted from 44 course offerings under the D4D-funded online learning curriculum so far. - Over half of the participants in all courses continue to come from LLMICs. - Average of one out of six active participants is from an FCS. - Four courses (PSDSx, GFSx, BOP-IIPx and NASx) are offered in French and Spanish. - In FY 2023, D4D-funded online statistical courses accounted for a fourth of total learner access to the IMF’s overall online learning program. - Regional distribution highlights (figures referenced): - Africa remains the top participating region. ### Microlearning clips and YouTube channel performance (as of end-April 2023) - IMF Institute Learning Channel subscribers increased from 10.5K to 13.6K over the past year. - 141 video clips available with statistics learning and promotional content represent approximately half of all the available YouTube IMF Institute Learning Channel videos. - The 29 playlists from the statistics online learning curriculum total about 12,000 views. - The 141 video clips generated almost 60,000 views in total. - Microlearning clips counts: - PSDSx: 34 - CBMSx: 27 - GFSx: 48 - BOP-IIPx: 15 - Promotional clips counts: - PSDSx: 3 - CBMSx: 1 - GFSx: 3 - BOP-IIPx: 3 - NASx: 3 - CPIx: 2 - EDSx: 1 - QNA/HFIx: 1 ### Future work plan for online curriculum - By the end of the work plan, development of the 12-course curriculum will be completed. - Development schedule: - FSIx and PPIx development will culminate during the work plan cycle. - Remaining three courses to be developed: Monetary and Financial Statistics (MFSx), Institutional Sector Accounts (ISAx), and RPPIx. - Translation work to be undertaken for five additional courses: CPIx, QNA/HFIx, EDSx, FSIx and PPIx into French and Spanish. - More blended courses included in the new work plan based on positive experience. ### Statistical Information Management (Module IV) — objectives and SDMX focus - Aim: streamline, standardize, and automate statistical information management to enhance countries’ ability to compile and disseminate macroeconomic and financial statistics. - SDMX CD supports: - a model to describe data and metadata, - a standard for automated machine-to-machine communication, - supporting technology. - SDMX is integral to the e-GDDS and SDDS Plus tiers of the IMF’s Data Standards Initiatives and supports National Data Summary Page (NSDP) development. - SDMX-related CD streams: - SDMX refresher training courses for e-GDDS participants. - CD assisting SDDS subscribers to adopt SDMX. ### Progress and activities in Statistical Information Management - Tunisia confirmed in March 2023 that a new SDMX-enabled NSDP, including datasets compiled by the NSO and the Ministry of Finance in addition to its own, was created and reviewed by the IMF; release pending final clearance from senior officials in Tunisia. - Two SDMX workshops conducted in collaboration with the African Development Bank: - Francophone workshop in November 2022 at the Africa Training Institute: 17 participants from five sub-Saharan e-GDDS countries plus representatives from the Bank of Central African States and the Central Bank of West African States; staff turnover identified as a key challenge. - Anglophone workshop hosted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in February 2023: 24 participants from eight sub-Saharan African e-GDDS countries with NSDPs; hands-on training covered generating new SDMX upload files and identified staff turnover as main challenge to dataset updating. - Planned activities: - Three placeholder missions added previously will be used in FY24 to address demand from D4D-eligible HTML-based SDDS countries willing to implement SDMX-enabled NSDPs; outreach expected to begin by end of FY 2023. - Three additional AFR workshops in collaboration with the African Development Bank to maintain delivery rate of two workshops per calendar year. - Workshops participant country lists: - Francophone participants: Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Guinea. - Anglophone participants: Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Zambia. ### Mid-term evaluation and governance implications - Mid-term independent program evaluation completed; final evaluation report shared with the D4D Fund Steering Committee (SC) in January 2023; findings and recommendations presented and discussed at the mid-year check-in meeting. - Evaluation findings and recommendations: - D4D Fund was highly relevant to recipient countries' needs and largely effective in building capacity on data compilation and dissemination. - Recommendations include: - Move from CD delivery to a change management approach to increase likelihood that short-term CD effects translate into longer-term institutional changes and policy improvements. - Install efforts to target and track results at the data usage level. - Continue institutionalizing the blended CD delivery model which has proven effective. - IMF will present an action plan to address recommendations at the D4D Fund SC meeting in June 2023 and thereafter continue to inform partners on implementation plans. - Evaluation will serve as major input for designing the program document of the second phase of the D4D Fund, scheduled to start in summer 2025. ### Issues for Steering Committee (SC) endorsement and budget requests - IMF requests SC approval for the budget of the new work plan and approval of additional budget required. - Additional budget requested: $4,960,214 required for the new work plan (Table 4). - IMF requests to continue delivering remote ad hoc advisory services through the lump sum facility endorsed at the June 2020 SC meeting, equal to 10 percent of the Module 1, until exhaustion of allocated funds. - IMF requests SC endorsement for stationing an LTX in Central Africa for 12 months to deliver CD on ESS in nine countries, most of them FCS; results from this pilot will be reported to the SC at its next meeting. - Proposal to extend temporary expansion of country eligibility previously granted by the SC to continue supporting countries close to the LLMIC income threshold; STA will assess the new World Bank list for LLMICs once available (probably in July 2023) and propose an updated list for SC endorsement in October 2023 SC mid-year check-in. - Table of budget items and implications (preserved entries): - 1. Module 1, Sub Module Real Sector Statistics — $6.04 million - 2. Module 1, Sub Module External Sector Statistics — $4.60 million - 3. Module 1, Sub Module Fiscal and Debt Reporting — $5.62 million - 4. Module 1, Ad Hoc Advisory Services — $0.29 million - 5. Module 2: Financial Access Survey — $3.59 million - 6. Module 3: Online Learning — $7.40 million - 7. Module 4: Statistical Information Management — $0.66 million - 8. Resource Management Program Manager — $1.46 million - 9. Country Eligibility Criteria — - - 10. Long-Term Expert on External Sector Statistics — - - Anticipated donor engagement: - Two virtual check-in meetings anticipated in October 2023 and in January 2024, ahead of the next annual meeting in June 2024. - Korea agreed to serve as Chair of the D4D Fund SC after the 6th annual SC meeting; Norway thanked for SC leadership over the past year. *International Monetary Fund — 2023 D4D Fund Annual Report and Work Plan* ### Annex I - D4D Fund Strategic Log Frame and Interim Rating ### Annex I - D4D Fund Strategic Log Frame and Interim Rating ### D4D Fund’s Strategic Objective - Assist LLMICs in strengthening national statistical systems to cope with a challenging national and international policy environment, promote transparency and accountability, and offer efficient solutions to capacity development. - Impact outcome: More and better data are available for decision-makers and analysts, with the ultimate objective of better informing economic policies and supporting monitoring of the SDGs. - Data sources for impact/outcome monitoring: Dissemination on National Summary Data Pages (NSDPs), IMF and/or World Bank databases, and/or country web sites; IMF’s Article IV and program reports; follow-up assessments through IMF CD activities. ### Objective Module 1: Real Sector Statistics — High-Frequency Indicators (HFIs) - Objective 1: High-frequency indicators of economic activity (HFIs) provide policymakers with information about the cyclical position of the economy to be able to adjust the policy mix in a way that eases economic volatility. - Outcome indicators and targets: - Strengthened compilation and dissemination of well-defined, high-frequency indicators of economic activity. - Currently about two-thirds of LLMICs compile some type of a monthly or quarterly economic activity indicator. - At the end of the five-year D4D Fund period, this work stream will have: - supported at least 10 countries currently not producing HFIs to compile and disseminate an indicator for a significant activity/sector in the economy; - assisted at least 15 additional countries to strengthen the compilation and dissemination of well-defined HFIs of economic activity. - Data sources: Follow-up assessments through IMF CD activities; Dissemination on NSDPs, IMF databases, and/or country web sites. - Interim Rating: 1.0 ### Objective Module 1: Real Sector Statistics — National Accounts Benchmarking and Rebasing - Objective 2: National Accounts Benchmarking and Rebasing every five to ten years ensures the accurate and exhaustive reflection of structure and level of economic activity, strengthening evidence-based economic decision-making and international comparability, e.g., for SDG monitoring. - Outcome indicators and targets: - More timely re-basing/benchmarking of national accounts to enhance the quality of GDP estimates. - Currently, about half of LLMICs have not updated their national account benchmarks/base year for more than 10 years. - More than 70 percent of LLMICs do not produce quarterly GDP in constant prices. - At the end of the five-year D4D Fund period, this work stream will have: - supported at least 15 countries in the release of updated benchmark estimates of GDP based on improved source data and methods. - Improvements to include: - updated business registers in 10 countries; - updated business survey /program content in 15 countries; - 10 new memorandums of understanding signed and implemented to provide the NSO with access to data from outside government departments; - 10 countries augment their existing prices statistics program with the release of new price index series. - Data sources and dissemination: Follow-up assessments through IMF CD activities; Revised estimates published on NSO websites with revision reports; reports on redesigned business registers and updated questionnaires disseminated via NSO public websites; MOUs signed and data transfers occurring on a regular basis. - Interim Rating: 1.1 ### Objective Module 1: Real Sector Statistics — Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) - Objective 3: The RPPI provides information about price trends in real estate important to assess risks in banks’ balance sheets. - Outcome indicators and targets: - Strengthened compilation and dissemination of RPPIs, including development/improvement of statistical infrastructure, source data, serviceability, and metadata. - By the end of the five-year D4D Fund period: - for the around one-tenth of eligible countries that already have a basic RPPI: bring compilation and dissemination in line with Handbook on Residential Property Price Indices and increase staff capacity through CD; - for the around one-eighth of eligible countries currently working on RPPI compilation: increase staff capacity through CD; - for the around four-fifths of eligible countries with no RPPI: deliver regional workshops and follow-up TA missions where sufficient progress is made in basic data collection. - Monitoring: Follow-up assessments through IMF CD activities (including workshop “before and after” quizzes/exams); Dissemination on NSDPs, IMF databases, and/or country web sites. - Interim Rating: 2.4 ### Objective Module 1: External Sector Statistics (ESS) - Objective: High-quality balance of payments statistics are compiled and disseminated to allow policymakers to monitor and assess cross-border risks and vulnerabilities and facilitate analyses of global trade, digitalization and financial integration. - Outcome indicators and targets (trade in goods and services): - More accurate and comprehensive data on international trade in goods and services available for at least 15 eligible countries by the end of the five-year cycle. - Indicators include development and utilization of new data sources, compilation and dissemination of new/improved data to facilitate analysis of global value chains and the digital economy, and improved coverage of goods including informal cross-border transactions. - Data sources: Follow-up assessments through IMF CD activities; Dissemination on NSDPs, IMF databases, and/or country web sites; IMF Article IV and program staff reports. - ESS-1 Top 15 countries: 2. 3 - Outcome indicators and targets (financial account and remittances): - Strengthened analysis of cross-border risks and vulnerabilities through improved scope of financial account components (including direct investment and external debt) and improved coverage of remittances for at least 15 eligible countries. - Indicators include development of new data sources, widened coverage of private sector external debt transactions, and improved consistency between stocks and flows data. - Note: Errors and omissions metric may not show a linear trend due to multiple influencing factors. - Data sources: Follow-up assessments through IMF CD activities; Dissemination on NSDPs, IMF databases, and/or country web sites; IMF Article IV and program staff reports. - ESS-2 Top 15 countries: 2.4 - Overall score: 1.8 - Overall score note: The overall score considers the entire universe of the countries that received CD when it is beyond the minimum required. For example, the ESS workstream has covered more than 15 eligible countries. - Overall interim rating shown: 2.0 (Overall score 29: 2.0) ### Objective Module 1: Fiscal and Debt Reporting (GFS and PSDS) - Objective: Improved government finance statistics (GFS) and public sector debt statistics (PSDS) are compiled and disseminated to support sound fiscal policymaking, the assessment and monitoring of fiscal risks and debt sustainability, and transparency and accountability. - High-frequency GFS outcomes and targets: - High-frequency GFS with improved data quality, frequency, and timeliness are compiled and disseminated to fiscal policymakers, the IMF for surveillance, and the public to improve transparency/accountability. - For around one-third of LLMICs, one or more of the following improvements will be achieved (risk-based): - frequency improved from annual to quarterly or from quarterly to monthly; - high-frequency GFS follow the latest GFS manual, including classifications and presentation; - institutional coverage expanded to resolve policy-relevant fiscal risks; - improved internal consistency (e.g., reduction of statistical discrepancy); - expanded scope of transactions/stock positions relevant for fiscal risk identification; - regular and sustained compilation and dissemination with improved timeliness; - dissemination of adequate metadata and documentation of business processes. - Data sources: Follow-up assessments through IMF CD activities; Dissemination on NSDPs, IMF databases, and/or country web sites; IMF Art. IV and program staff reports. - GFS Top 25 countries: 2.8 - GFS Overall score: 2.6 - High-frequency PSDS outcomes and targets: - For around half of LLMICs, one or more of the following improvements will be achieved (risk-based): - frequency improved from annual to quarterly or from quarterly to monthly; - PSDS follow guidelines of the PSDS Guide, including classifications and presentation of summary debt data; - institutional coverage expanded to identify fiscal risks (e.g., include state-owned enterprises); - improved scope of stock positions (contingent liabilities and arrears); - regular and sustained compilation and dissemination with improved timeliness; - dissemination of adequate metadata and documentation of business processes. - Data sources: Follow-up assessments through IMF CD activities; Dissemination on NSDPs, IMF databases, and/or country web sites; IMF Art. IV and program staff reports including debt sustainability analyses. - PSDS Interim Rating: 1.9 ### Objective Module 2: Financial Access Survey (FAS) — Financial Inclusion Statistics - Objective: Provide policymakers and analysts with high-quality statistics on financial inclusion through the FAS database. - Outcomes, indicators, and targets: - Continued production of the FAS, providing access to long time series on financial access. - The FAS survey is sent annually to all IMF members; - Data are validated by IMF staff according to reporting guidelines, with close follow-up with respondents; - Data are disseminated on a rolling basis (immediately following validation). - Data source: IMF FAS website. - FAS-1 Interim Rating: 4 - Production of new data series to address quickly changing data needs: - By the end of the five-year D4D Fund period: - The annual response rate to the FAS is increased to 95 percent of the IMF membership; - The number of participating jurisdictions providing information on the gender breakdown of FAS is increased by two-fold compared to the 2017 benchmark; - The number of participating jurisdictions providing indicators of innovative channels of financial access is increased by 50 percent compared to the 2017 benchmark. - Data source: IMF FAS website. - FAS-2 Interim Rating: 3.3 - Provide the monitoring basis for the SDGs financial inclusion indicator (8.10.1): - Provide the data on the number of commercial bank branches and ATMs per 100,000 adults on an annual basis, covering at least 90 percent of the world population. - Data published on the United Nations SDG Indicators Global Database. - FAS-3 Interim Rating: 4 - Contribute to the research and policy agenda on financial inclusion: - FAS data are used to create a global financial inclusion index; - FAS data are featured in IMF reports on financial inclusion, including country and policy documents, as deemed appropriate. - Data sources: IMF FAS website; Published IMF reports and analytical publications on financial inclusion. - FAS-4 Interim Rating: 3.5 ### Objective Module 3: Online Training Curriculum for Statistics - Objective: Expand global reach of statistics training by developing and rolling out a new structured online learning curriculum. - Outcomes, indicators, and targets: - Development and implementation of a new online training curriculum covering ten fundamental statistical topical courses. - Translation in up to 5 languages. - Certification from online training established as entry requirement to improve efficiency of face-to-face intermediate and advanced training. - Phasing in of online courses: One coming on-stream during Year 1, two in Year 2-4, and three in Year 5. - Increasing reach of STA training by at least 50 percent by the end of the D4D Fund period. - Data source: IMF tracking system for online learning. - Interim Rating: 3.8 ### Objective Module 4: Statistical Information Management - Objective: Streamline, standardize and automate statistical information management to enhance countries’ ability to compile and disseminate macroeconomic and financial statistics. - Outcomes, indicators, and targets: - Disseminate and facilitate implementation of best practices in statistical data and metadata management and related frameworks established by the international community. - Transfer knowledge on governance structures, provide information on technical standards and statistical information models, and advise on project design to enable recipient agencies to design and implement state-of-the-art statistical information management structures and tools. - Pilots in Kenya (2017), Lebanon, Egypt and/or Tunisia (planned for FY 2019) will guide selection of indicators to measure progress in this module. - Data sources: Follow-up assessments through IMF CD activities. - Interim Rating: 2.5 ### Annex II — Real Sector Statistics: High-Frequency Indicators (Progress Achieved) - Summary of FY 2023 achievements: - CD on HFIs showed promising results despite low demand from the COVID-19 pandemic; several experimental MIEG delivered and one training workshop conducted in FY 2023. - Country-level and regional activities: - Bhutan: A three-day knowledge sharing event consolidated RMA team knowledge on MIEG after prior CD activities (September 2020–January 2021 and August 2021–March 2022) and enhanced data sharing among RMA, NBS, and Ministry of Finance. - Mauritania: October 2022 mission assisted NSO in updating and improving the index of industrial production; established a work plan to publish updated index by December 2023, including seasonally adjusted and historical series back to 2016; mission recommended improvements and provided IT solutions. - Togo: An experimental MIEG became available from a remote CD activity in October 2021 with follow-up support; volume measures compiled and disseminated within government; June 2022 CD assisted NSO in preparing a release note contributing to reduce GDP release lag from nine to two months. - Uganda: February 2023 mission assisted NSO to improve experimental MIEG, develop compilation files, improve estimates for several economic activities, and integrate with quarterly national accounts framework. - Regional workshop: - One regional workshop on High-Frequency Indicators of Economic Activity (HFIEA) conducted in April 2023 in collaboration with the IMF Africa Training Institute. - Attracted 23 participants from 16 AFR economies, including five FCS. - Workshop format: blended—self-paced remote component (conceptual material via QNA/HFIx online course) plus in-person component for practical exercises using national data. - Future Work Plan: (heading present in source; specific future actions not included in supplied excerpt) *Source: D4D Fund Strategic Log Frame and Interim Rating (Annex I) and Annex II — Real Sector Statistics (High-Frequency Indicators), D4D Fund annual report and work plan* ### 2. The proposed work program for FY 2024 – FY 2025 Q2 is as follows: ### The proposed work program for FY 2024 – FY 2025 Q2 ### High-Frequency Indicators (HFIs) — planned country engagements and capacity building - Countries that expressed readiness to start developing HFIs during FY 2024: - Central African Republic, Ghana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. - Sierra Leone remains in the work program as authorities foresee to work further on developing the indicator during FY 2024. - Support in the development of an index of industrial production, or other monthly sectoral indices, is planned for: - Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Sri Lanka, and Uganda. - A first mission to Bolivia is planned to define the scope of the work to be developed. - Countries not foreseeing HFI development during FY 2024 – FY 2025 H1 due to other priorities or data limitations: - Mongolia (authorities do not require additional technical assistance; NSO compiles and shares a MIEG and staff participated in the QNA/HFIx); Angola, Jordan, Kenya, Pakistan, and Sudan (other priorities in national accounts); Bhutan (further improvements in available data sources needed); São Tomé and Príncipe (HFI project postponed due to GDP rebasing started in early 2023). - Contingency and training: - Up to eight placeholder missions to respond flexibly to potential country requests arising from outreach activities. - Three training activities planned for delivery during FY 2024 in the AFR, MCD, and WHD regions, designed to build on the QNA/HFIx online course and to increase project awareness and potential demand. ### National Accounts Rebasing/Benchmarking — progress achieved (selected outcomes) - Cambodia: Finalized GDP rebasing to reference year 2014 from benchmark year 2000; August 2022 technical assistance reviewed supply and use tables and advised on communicating newly rebased series; assistance to update CPI basket and weights to 2014 based on finalized household expenditure survey. - Côte d'Ivoire: January 2023 mission reviewed methods to expand PPI coverage to services and provided training on related concepts and methods. - Democratic Republic of Congo: May 2022 mission supported GDP rebasing from 2005 to 2018; identified key data sources and planned future data collections for missing areas such as trade and transportation margins. - Guinea: April 2023 mission supported rebasing GDP from 2006 to new reference year 2018; training on compiling benchmark year estimates using supply and use table framework with focus on taxes on products, trade and transport margins, and informal gold mining. - India: Technical assistance to prepare a new PPI for agricultural and industrial activities; developed a work plan for weighting structure, maximize use of existing WPI collections, and focus new data collection. - Malawi: Assistance to incorporate tax data for GDP compilation; business tax data for 2018 through 2021 received; work started on industry classification of key filers; memorandum of understanding to facilitate regular receipt of tax data drafted and under review. - Philippines: February 2023 mission developed a work plan to publish chain volume measures of GDP beginning in the first quarter of 2024; assistance to improve institutional sector accounts. - Senegal: Technical assistance to improve compilation of natural resource projects for planned rebasing to reference period 2021. - Sierra Leone: Support on compiling employment and remuneration matrices for upcoming GDP rebasing to reference year 2018; matrices will facilitate estimation of informal sector output, value added and employment; informal sector statistics will be gender-disaggregated by economic activity and category of employment. - Sri Lanka: Support to expand PPI coverage to include services activities; services value added contributed 55.1 percent of GDP in Sri Lanka in 2021. - Vietnam: Progress on identifying data sources and developing methods to compile SUIT for 2020 base year with better coverage of non-observed economic activities; rebasing expected to be completed by December 2023; December 2022 mission provided suggestions to further improve estimates of non-observed activities. ### National Accounts — FY 2024 – FY 2025 Q2 proposed work program (selected activities) - Assist Bangladesh in updating the weights of their PPI to better reflect current production activity (two missions). - Support Bhutan in developing an updated PPI to support GDP rebasing (two missions). - Assist Côte D’Ivoire with developing a new export and import price index (two missions). - Assist Kiribati with updating the basket and weights of the CPI to support improved deflation of household expenditure. - Support Lebanon with re-launching a PPI that has not been disseminated for several years. - Support Mauritania with developing a new PPI as well as input-output tables to facilitate economic impact modeling. - Assist Pakistan in developing a new PPI to supplement the existing wholesale price index. - Continued support to fully achieve expected outcomes in: - National accounts benchmarking in Burundi, Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. - Improving quality of source data for national accounts in Cambodia. - Developing and disseminating new PPIs and expanding coverage to the services sectors in India. - Creating a new SBR from tax data and other administrative sources in Lesotho. - Developing sectoral accounts and chained volume measures in the Philippines (three missions). - Expanding PPI coverage to services for the Philippines and Sri Lanka. - Improving estimates of the informal sector and business activity for national accounts rebasing in Sierra Leone and Vietnam (two missions). - A placeholder for four missions to flexibly respond to emerging demand from countries. - Multi-country training: - In-person introductory workshop on identifying data sources and developing methods to compile SUIT targeted for the AFR region, including conversion of supply-use tables to input-output tables and analytical applications. - Follow-up SUIT workshop for APD countries with goal that participating countries will compile input-output tables by the end of the workshop. - In-person workshop on data sources and methods for recording digital-based activities in the national accounts planned for the AFR region. - Additional workshops to support CPI compilation improvements in WAEMU and CEMAC countries are planned. ### Regional workshops conducted in FY 2023 (high-level) - Two workshops on improving compilation methods for the harmonized CPI compiled and disseminated by WAEMU member countries; topics included index calculation formulas, national and regional weights, sampling, treatment of missing prices, quality adjustment methods, and data dissemination and analysis. Participants included WAEMU, Central Bank of West African States, Economic and Statistical Observatory for Sub-Saharan Africa, and WAEMU member countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo). - A regional workshop on compiling SUIT for APD countries with 33 participants from NSOs and central banks; covered conceptual and analytical methods of SUIT and compilation of input-output tables for economic impact and environmental modeling. - A regional workshop on compiling producer, export, and import prices for MCD countries covering sampling and weighting, index calculation, data collection, quality adjustment, and linking price index series; used to identify candidate countries for future technical assistance. ### Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) — progress achieved (selected outcomes) - Bangladesh: Mission assisted authorities to compile an experimental RPPI for Dhaka using a single preferred method following international best practice; current dataset limited to a single financial institution; Bangladesh Bank plans to implement recommended compilation improvements and consider publishing experimental RPPI with sub-indices for four regional strata; medium-term plan to expand sample via a new reporting template for a larger number of financial institutions. - Cambodia: Published a first-ever monthly RPPI data series in June 2022. - Georgia: Mission assisted NSO to extend scope and coverage of RPPI using web-scraped data to permit property-mix adjustments and improve index quality. - Jordan: Published an overall real estate index 2012–2021 based on Department of Land & Survey data; legislative change now prevents use of those data for quarterly real estate price indices; short-run option is online listings; longer-term objective is resumption of RPPI based on comprehensive administrative data requiring engagement with principal index stakeholders. - Mongolia: New monthly RPPI for Ulaanbaatar published in early 2023 with series back to January 2022; switched from limited stratification method to hedonic method based on listings data; Bank of Mongolia provided web listings and undertook hedonic analysis; April 2023 mission focused on improving model specification and publishing district-level indices within Ulaanbaatar. - Philippines: Mission assisted Central Bank to improve RPPI methods and publish CPPI (land only) for first time; methodology evaluated against international standards; further improvements recommended; Central Bank delayed launch of updated RPPI and new CPPI until recommended changes implemented, with publication planned for May 2023; Central Bank requested further CD in FY 2024 to introduce hedonic regression for quality adjustment within strata. - Suriname: Requested CD to commence RPPI development; one placeholder used; Central Bank investigating data sources via real estate firms and notaries and commenced web scraping of property adverts; mission assessed data suitability and developed methodology for an experimental RPPI. - Tunisia: Stopped publishing RPPI in 2022 due to quality concerns; mission reviewed administrative data source and compilation method and recommended improvements in outlier detection, stratification, aggregation, and dissemination; NSO will finalize methodology with a view to relaunching RPPI in August 2023 with data up to Q2 2023. - Regional training: RPPI workshop delivered to AFR countries in Kampala, Uganda in April 2023 with 25 staff from central banks and statistics agencies from 12 countries; course focused on data sources, modeling, and property-mix adjusted RPPI methodology. ### RPPI — future work plan and priorities - Overall work plan focuses on countries prioritizing a new indicator: 11 countries included as part of the 16 activities; the other five activities consist of two training workshops (APD and MCD) and three placeholders. - Honduras and Moldova will not be part of the updated work plan due to lack of relevant administrative data on real estate transactions. - Armenia: Early stages of RPPI development; examining viability of land register as data source; mission planned for July 2023. - Bangladesh: Plans to implement recommended improvements to experimental RPPI compilation methods and expand transaction sample via a new reporting template for more financial institutions. - Eswatini: Central Bank suspended compilation of experimental RPPI from Deeds Office in 2021 due to data quality concerns; shifted to mortgage-based data from financial institutions with new quarterly data collection template implemented; central bank continues to compile new experimental RPPI using hedonic regression methods; additional CD required for methodology review and dissemination assistance. - Georgia and Jordan: Further CD planned in FY 2024 to finalize hedonic modelling (Georgia) and to further develop collection of online listings (Jordan) as the primary viable data source. - Lesotho: Following D4D-funded April 2023 workshop, Central Bank requested technical assistance for RPPI development; Central Bank implemented a survey of financial institutions and has collected mortgage-level transaction information. *IMF Statistics Department — D4D Fund Annual Report and Work Plan (2023).* ### 2021. The mission will analyze the data available to the Bank and recommend appropriate ### 2023-d4d-fund-annual-report-and-work-plan - 2021. The mission will analyze the data available to the Bank and recommend appropriate ### Residential Property Price Indices (RPPI) and Related Work - Missions will analyze available mortgage data and recommend methods for compiling an experimental RPPI following international best practice. - Missions will explore additional data sources to supplement mortgage data (e.g., register data, tax data, listings data from real estate websites). - Country-specific progress and plans: - Mongolia: significant progress in early 2023; authorities plan further improvements to the model specification before publishing more granular RPPIs, including new district-level indices within Ulaanbaatar. - Philippines: plan to publish the updated RPPI and the CPPI (land only) for the first time and to develop statistical methodology by introducing hedonic regression for quality adjustment. - Tunisia: will finalize and validate the RPPI calculation methodology with a view to resuming publication by August 2023; further CD may be needed. - Uganda, Vietnam, and Zambia: planned activities remain in the work plan; further engagement occurred at the regional training workshop for AFR countries in April 2023. - Programmatic activities: - Three placeholder missions included in the work program to cater for emerging demands. - Two in-person regional workshops planned in the APD and MCD regions to bring together countries at different stages of RPPI development and identify recipient countries for future technical assistance. ### External Sector Statistics (ESS) — Progress Achieved - Overview: - 8 CD activities were conducted in several countries where ESS weaknesses hamper policy formulation. - Common root causes: inefficient interagency cooperation in data sharing, weak legal settings, lack of suitable data sources, weak compilation techniques, and limited resources. - Training and workshops: - Three regional blended workshops on international reserves statistics were delivered for African, Asian Pacific, Middle East, Central Asian and European countries; course evaluation and completion rate was 90 percent of participants. - First workshop: Anglophone LLMICs in Africa, East Asia, and Middle East Asia; Twenty-eight officials from 26 countries participated in the in-person session held in Bali, Indonesia (January 24-26, 2023). - Second workshop: Russian-speaking countries; twenty-four officials representing 10 countries participated in Tbilisi, Georgia (January 31- February 2, 2023). - Third workshop: Francophone countries in AFR; thirty-two officials from 16 institutions from 15 countries participated in Dakar, Senegal during April 5-7, 2023. - A regional blended workshop on cross-border remittances statistics was delivered for WAIFEM and MEFMI member countries; sixty-seven officials from 16 countries participated. - Country technical assistance highlights (selected): - Armenia (October 2022): assisted with capturing ESS changes due to pandemic, war/armed conflicts, digitalization, and nonfinancial sector developments; authorities working to address identified issues. - Bank of Cabo Verde (March 2023): aimed to improve timeliness of BOP and IIP source data, investigate net errors and omissions, and assess travel and tourism source data. - Equatorial Guinea (May 2022): aimed to improve collection, compilation, and dissemination of the IIP database; issues identified and authorities working to address them. - National Bank of Georgia (April 2023): developed new questionnaire to compile trade in services statistics; mission reviewed questionnaire and assessed coverage. - Jordan (November 2022): two parallel missions — Department of Statistics (move from Special Trade System to General Trade System; action plan agreed to disseminate revised IMS statistics in Q1 2024) and Central Bank (improve personal transfers, direct investment, and services account). Preliminary impact of General Trade System: both imports and exports (mainly re-exports) would increase; trade deficit would decrease between 2.3 percent to 5 percent. New Foreign Investment Survey 2019 and 2020 results incorporated into BOP and IIP with minor impact (errors and omission reduced by 1-2 percent). - Sierra Leone (October 2022): mission helped estimate unrecorded exports and improve direct investment and remittances statistics; values of exports revised upwards by an average of 46.7 percent and other investment liabilities by 30.1 percent; errors and omissions reduced by an average of 61.8 percent over 2018-2021. - Central Bank of Sudan (October 2022): incorporating unrecorded non-monetary gold and crude oil received through the pipeline improved the trade balance and current account balance by about $564 million and reduced errors and omissions by about 30 percent. - Tunisia (October 2022 follow-up to January 2020): assisted in transition to BPM6 methodology scheduled to be applied during 2023; mission verified external debt coverage and identified inconsistencies between datasets reported to the World Bank and the IIP dataset. - Vanuatu (February 2023): established a two-year work program to improve data sources, estimation techniques and validation processes to reduce errors and omissions. - West Bank and Gaza (June 2022): identified a method for estimating the stock of foreign currency in circulation to enhance consistency between the BOP and IIP; follow-up mission needed to review other BOP components. - Other missions and outcomes: - Kiribati (April 2023): assessed ESS compilation practices; follow-up mission planned next year. - Mauritania (April 2023): developed software to use international transactions reporting system data for BPM6-format BOP compilation; mission assessed IT solution compliance with BPM6. - Somalia (November 2022): assisted strengthening source data and compilation framework for BOP, including cross-border trade and personal transfers. - Impact metrics and participation counts: - Blended international reserves workshops: course evaluation completion rate of 90 percent. - Workshop participation counts: 28 officials from 26 countries; 24 officials from 10 countries; 32 officials from 16 institutions from 15 countries. - WAIFEM/MEFMI remittances workshop: sixty-seven officials from 16 countries participated. ### External Sector Statistics — Future Work Plan - Strategic focus: support countries in addressing external sector data gaps and strengthening compilation practices; intensify CD on emerging IMF priority topics including cross-border transactions related to digitalization and recording digital transactions, digital trade and transfers. - Missions and adjustments: - Missions initially scheduled in FY 2023 to Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, El Salvador, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Philippines, São Tomé and Príncipe, Zambia, and Zimbabwe were rescheduled and included in the new work plan. - Missions endorsed in May 2022–October 2023 work plan to Burundi, Madagascar, Morocco and Rwanda but planned for delivery in the first half of FY 2024 are included. - Mission to Republic of Congo removed from the work plan and replaced with Democratic Republic of Congo; Republic of Congo included under the FSSF due to focus on improving the IIP dataset. - Three BOP/IIPx SPOCs and BOP/IIP compilation workshop for MCD will be replaced with three in-person thematic workshops on trade in services and digital trade and a BOP/IIP compilation workshop for MEFMI and WAIFEM member countries. - Follow-up CD to be provided to Kiribati, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan. - Eighteen placeholder missions to provide flexibility for urgent follow-up or emerging needs. - Thematic workshops planned (five over the work plan period): - Three workshops on trade in services and digital trade for Anglophone countries, Francophone countries, and the Russian-speaking countries. - One workshop on ESS for WAIFEM/MEFMI member countries. - One workshop on Digital Trade for African countries (accounted for under the RSS-NAS work stream). ### Government Finance and Public Sector Debt Statistics (PSDS) — Progress Achieved - Context: - CD delivery on PSDS continued to support rebuilding institutional and individual capacity for compiling data that better informs policy decisions. - Many countries, especially FCS, experienced capacity erosion and increased demand for quality public sector debt data. - Almost all PSDS missions in FY 2023 included a training component for business continuity. - Training and mission highlights: - Burundi: four-day training course on GFS and PSDS benefitted about 25 compilers and executives. - Joint mission with RCDC for Central Africa to Chad: delivered hands-on training and supported compilation of preliminary PSDS for FY 2021. - Timor-Leste follow-up: training to Ministry of Finance officials; preliminary debt data review found largest component of debt in loans; Meridian debt management system being acquired as a data source. - Tunisia follow-up on SOEs: provided training to new staff on GFS integrated framework and relationships between financial statements and GFS stocks and flows. - Joint mission with CCAMTAC to Uzbekistan: two-day GFS and PSDS training to over 23 participants; hands-on assistance supported reconciliation and compilation of central government debt for FY 2021 and initiation of SDDS reporting and QPSD questionnaires. - Yemen diagnostic mission: training to ten officials covering PSDS principles, sectorization, classification, debt valuation, reorganization and compilation; capacities remain weak. - Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe: delivered workshops and hands-on technical support to bring new staff up to speed. - Progress and remaining gaps: - Sierra Leone: progress in compiling PSDS for general government; focus on integration of stocks and flows, accounting for arrears, and contingent liabilities and fiscal risk. - Timor-Leste: large portion of government debt is in loans; has never compiled debt statistics but is acquiring a debt management system (Meridian). - Togo: debt statistics published regularly in quarterly debt bulletins and annual reports; currently limited to budgetary central government and do not yet include currency and deposits debt liabilities; authorities have not started disseminating debt statistics to the QPSD. - Zimbabwe: TA mission worked with central bank, Ministry of Finance, and Accountant General’s Office; PSDS did not contain debt of both financial and non-financial SOEs; guaranteed local government debt included when instrument coverage applies, while other debt liabilities are not; mission helped improve compilation and reporting though discrepancies remain between central bank and Ministry of Finance sources. - State-owned enterprises (SOEs) focus: - Emphasis on expanding institutional coverage towards a broader public sector definition and improving data on SOE debt and contingent liabilities. - Many LLMICs currently compile public sector debt data that include only one or two of six debt instruments (debt securities and loans), and SOE debt is often excluded. - Follow-up missions on SOEs: - Georgia: expanded coverage of general government and completed comprehensive sectorization of SOEs; list of non-market SOEs expanded to cover all enterprises established by local governments (160 units) and now comprises 325 units; supported compilation of GFS for 17 large non-market SOEs representing around 90 percent of all non-market SOEs by annual turnover; preliminary data showed a positive fiscal balance of 0.1 percent of GDP and a negative net financial worth of 4.3 percent of GDP in FY 2021. - Tunisia: significant progress since last mission; annual report on SOEs published by the General Directorate of Participations includes analyses and data from previous missions; sectorization updated and refined; GFS (statement of operations and balance sheet) for the 11 largest SOEs compiled; new database developed covering 86 public entities regarded as extrabudgetary units; improved collaboration and distribution of responsibilities within the Ministry of Finance for compiling GFS for SOEs. - Capacity constraints: - Persistent staffing constraints and insufficient institutional arrangements hamper GFS compilation for non-market SOEs and sectorization work in many countries. *Source: Statistics Department, D4D Fund Annual Report and Work Plan.* ### 15. CD delivery has continued to support dissemination of public sector debt statistics: ### 2023-d4d-fund-annual-report-and-work-plan - 15. CD delivery has continued to support dissemination of public sector debt statistics: ### CD delivery and dissemination of Public Sector Debt Statistics (PSDS) - The D4D Fund annual report and work plan reports missions supporting compilation and reporting of PSDS to the QPSD database: - The authorities in Chad indicated that data compiled for FY 2021 during the mission will be reported to the QPSD database once approved in June 2023. - The mission to Vanuatu assessed progress with PSDS compilation, assisted with compilation of data for reporting to the QPSD database, and suggested changes to the Debt Management Unit quarterly debt bulletin. Moving forward the authorities should be in a position to compile and report debt data for the budgetary central government consistent with the format of the QPSD database. - With training and hands-on technical support provided during missions, Timor-Leste and Uzbekistan should soon begin reporting debt data to the QPSD. ### Blended learning offering on SOEs fiscal and debt statistics - First offering delivered to countries in the Africa region aimed to improve understanding of linkages between SOEs accounting source data and the GFSM 2014 framework, and derivation of integrated GFS stocks (including the stock of debt) and flows for SOEs. - Course design and outcomes: - Used practical examples and case studies to translate accounting financial statements and trial balances into fiscal statistics distinguishing stock positions, transactions, and other economic flows. - Highlighted analytical usefulness of fiscal and debt statistics of broader institutional coverage for users and policy makers. - Participation: - Total of 28 participants from four countries: Kenya (5), Malawi (6), Rwanda (15), and Uganda (7). - 24 participants attended the two components that included an asynchronous virtual self-paced study and an in-person instructor-led workshop. ### Future work plan on PSDS (planned missions and focus) - Strategic emphasis: - Focus on closing existing data gaps as debt vulnerabilities and demand for granular PSDS increase. - Continued support for rebuilding institutional and human capacity for improved PSDS data quality and coverage in LLMICs, and particularly FCS. - Emphasis on improving frequency, timeliness, and institutional coverage of PSDS compilation and dissemination, scope of stock positions of debt, and documentation of business processes. - Rescheduled and planned missions: - Missions to Armenia, Egypt, Guinea-Bissau, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, and Uzbekistan initially scheduled during FY 2023 have been rescheduled for delivery in FY 2024. - Follow-up PSDS missions to Burundi, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, Togo, and Yemen to expand institutional and instrument coverage of debt and address data gaps. - Follow-up SOE missions to Côte d’Ivoire, Lesotho, and Tunisia. - PSDS missions to Burkina Faso and Guinea to be delivered jointly with the RCDC for West Africa. - SOE missions to the Central African Republic, Chad, and the Republic of Congo jointly with the RCDC for Central Africa. - Five placeholder missions allocated to meet on-demand technical assistance and/or follow-up missions; four placeholders allocated for SOE missions. ### Progress achieved on Government Finance Statistics (GFS) - Overall approach: - CD activities focused on rebuilding capacities through staff training to ensure compilation and dissemination of fiscal statistics fit for purpose. - The independent D4D Fund mid-term evaluation report (2022) noted staff availability as a risk to sustainability, staff rotation challenges, and limited institutional commitment due to multiple tasks. - Mission highlights and outcomes: - Missions to Bolivia, Comoros, Eswatini, Haiti, Sudan, Tajikistan, and Timor-Leste included training components with GFS concepts and hands-on compilation support. - Timor-Leste: training necessary because most of the newly reorganized GFS compilation team had little prior knowledge; authorities were not able to compile annual GFS for 2020 prior to the mission. - Sudan mission served as a diagnostic mission for future CD requirements. - Improvements to source data, classifications, sectorization, consistency between stocks and flows, and consolidation: - Armenia: supported improvements to classifications and necessary expenditure reclassifications to inform national fiscal rules. - Bolivia: reviewed and validated the public sector institutional table and sectorization of public entities; supported compilation of stocks and flows for general government and the nonfinancial public sector for 2015–2021; compiled annual data expected to serve as benchmark for central government monthly series from 2015. - Eswatini: supported compilation of GFS for FY 2021; explained a statistical discrepancy of more than one percent of GDP between transactions above and below the line in previously reported data for FY 2018-2020; reviewed COFOG consistency; facilitated compilation of a draft financial balance sheet from Treasury statements. - Ghana (jointly with FAD): reviewed legal framework for fiscal reporting, institutional coverage inconsistencies, classifications, basis of reporting and presentation, and public financial management processes; noted continued inconsistencies despite some progress and implementation of Internal Public Sector Accounting Standards. - Haiti: reviewed source data on fiscal and debt statistics to monitor the IMF program and supported development of a template for monthly compilation and reporting for program monitoring. - Madagascar: assisted with GFS consolidation; identified issues with treatment of own funds/capital accounts and inter-governmental transfer discrepancies; aggregated general government GFS are available and consolidated data expected once issues are resolved; authorities expected to start disseminating consolidated GFS. - Timor-Leste: supported compilation of annual GFS for FY 2020 and 2021, subsequently submitted to the IMF GFS database; noted quarterly source data were in the same format as annual data and bridge tables for annual GFS could be used for quarterly compilation. ### GFS blended learning on consolidation and future GFS work plan - Consolidation course: - First offering delivered to countries in the Asia and Pacific region covering concept of consolidation at general government and public sector levels, purposes, types, rules of thumb, and practical guidance on how and when to consolidate. - Participation from five countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines; 14 attended online sessions and 8 attended the live virtual session. - Future GFS work plan priorities: - Include postponed activities from FY 2023 and follow-up missions linked to previous work, focusing on strategic log frame indicators, improving frequency of GFS compilation and dissemination, and institutional coverage and scope of transactions. - Continued leveraging of RCDC resources and collaboration with IMF area departments. - Planned missions and allocations: - Missions to Comoros, Mongolia (jointly with CCAMTAC), and Yemen scheduled during FY 2023 rescheduled for delivery in FY 2024. - Follow-up GFS missions to Bolivia, Ghana, the Kyrgyz Republic (jointly with CCAMTAC), Madagascar, Sudan, Tajikistan (jointly with CCAMTAC), and Timor-Leste. - Missions to Benin, Niger, and Senegal to be delivered jointly with the RCDC for West Africa; mission to Bhutan jointly with SARTTAC. - Two missions scheduled to Suriname to address discrepancies between transactions above and below the line and between stocks and flows of financial assets and liabilities. - Missions also scheduled to Angola, Lebanon, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, and Sri Lanka. - Ten placeholder missions allocated to meet on-demand technical assistance and/or follow-up missions. - Provision for a workshop targeting West African countries, jointly with RCDC for West Africa, on COFOG to promote reporting of social spending data for IMF surveillance and program lending, particularly in low-income program countries. - Inclusion of the second delivery of a GFSx SPOC, in Spanish, to a closed group of officials with live sessions. ### D4D Fund overview and modules (financials and objectives) - Objective: Putting more and better data in the hands of decision-makers to enhance evidence-based macroeconomic policies and support achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). - Focus: Strengthen national statistical systems, promote transparency and accountability, offer efficient CD solutions. - Conceptual foundation: Based on needs assessment considering (i) demand from countries, (ii) policy relevance, (iii) identification of data gaps and data quality concerns, (iv) complementarity of CD from RCDCs and bilateral CD projects, and (v) need for flexibility to react to a country’s capacity and readiness to accept CD. - Size, target countries and period: $33.1 million for LLMICs, from June 2018 to June 2025. - Modules and indicative budgets: - M1: Addressing Data Needs and Quality Concerns (includes RSS, ESS, Fiscal and Debt Reporting (GFS/PSDS)) — $18-20 million. - M2: Financial Access Survey (FAS) — $4-5 million. - M3: Online Learning — $6.5-8.5 million. - M4: Statistical Information Management — $0.5-1 million. - Additional allocations listed: $6-7 million; $6 million; $6-7 million. --- _Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/capacity-developement/d4d/june-2023/2023-d4d-fund-annual-report-and-work-plan.pdf_