## 2020. Policy options to enhance engagement in fragile and conflict-affected states will be

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---

### Key priorities of the Fall 2019 work program
- Support policy makers in resolving cross-border trade tensions, mitigating risks, and securing sustainable and inclusive growth:
  - Spring 2020 World Economic Outlook (WEO) will analyze capital flows in emerging markets and policies to counter the next downturn in advanced economies, as well as the determinants and effects of international migration.
  - Spring GFSR will examine how challenges from climate change are priced into financial assets (Box 1).
  - Fiscal Monitor (FM) will feature cross-country analysis on the role, economic importance, and fiscal impact of state-owned enterprises.
  - 2020 External Sector Report (ESR) (July 2020) will provide a multilaterally-consistent assessment of the largest economies’ external positions.
  - External Sector Assessments for non-ESR countries (February 2020) will expand analysis to non-ESR countries.
  - Briefings on Global Financial Markets Developments are planned for November 2019 and May 2020.
- Regional and macro risk work:
  - Report on Macroeconomic Developments and Prospects in Low-Income Developing Countries (LIDCs) in November.
  - Evolution of Public Debt Vulnerabilities in Lower Income Countries (January 2020), including implications of the changing creditor landscape and increasing complexity of debt instruments.
  - Early Warning Exercise engagement in April and October 2020.

### Climate change (Box 1)
- Deepening analysis and integrating climate change implications into core operations:
  - Board paper Fiscal policies for Paris Climate Strategies provided country-level guidance on the role and design of fiscal policies for mitigation strategies.
  - Building Resilience in Developing Countries Vulnerable to Large Natural Disasters proposed a framework for developing comprehensive, multi-pronged disaster resilience strategies.
- Flagship embedding and planned analyses:
  - Fall 2019 FM focused on design of fiscal policies including carbon taxes and emission trading systems for climate mitigation at domestic and international levels.
  - Fall 2019 GFSR covered climate issues in a chapter on sustainable finance, calling for developing standards, fostering disclosure and transparency, and promoting integration of sustainability considerations into investments and business decisions.
  - Spring 2020 GFSR will study how climate change risks are priced into financial assets.
  - An analysis on the macroeconomic implications of climate mitigation policies is planned for Fall 2020 or Spring 2021 WEO.
- Surveillance and tools:
  - The CSR features climate change as a salient trend impacting growth and economic and financial stability.
  - The 2020 FSAP Review is looking into improvements in coverage of climate risks to financial stability, including through strengthening climate-related stress tests.
  - Staff will prepare a how-to note on integrating climate change systematically into IMF surveillance within the Fund’s surveillance mandate.
  - Staff will review Climate Change Policy Assessments (jointly conducted with the WB) to take stock and draw lessons from their application in pilot countries.
  - Staff is looking into the social impact of fuel subsidies and potential productivity gains from large-scale green investments in advanced economies.

### Economic and financial research (major workstreams)
- Monetary, financial, and macrofinancial research:
  - IPF (March and June 2020) will provide a more systematic assessment of an effective policy mix of monetary, exchange rate, macroprudential and capital flow management policies.
  - Management Implementation Plan on the IEO Report on IMF Advice on Unconventional Monetary Policies (January 2020) will present work streams to deepen expertise on monetary policy issues, including low or negative interest rates.
  - Briefing on the Impact of Low or Negative Interest Rates (July 2020) will assess impacts through modeling work and empirical analysis.
  - Board paper Central Bank Governance After the Global Financial Crisis: In Search of Emerging Good Practices (June 2020) will focus on expanded mandates of central banks and implications for governance arrangements and operations.
  - Briefing on the Distributional Effects of Monetary Policy (May 2020) will study distributional implications of central banks’ monetary easing for advanced economies and emerging and developing economies, and outline policy implications.
- Staff Discussion Notes (SDNs) and studies:
  - SDNs on Financial Services and Inequality (January 2020) and Financial Inclusion and Fintech (February 2020).
  - SDN Exchange Rates and External Adjustment: The Role of Dominant Currencies (March 2020).
  - SDN on Cyber-Security Risk and Financial Stability (May 2020).
  - SDN Women in the Labor Force: The Role of Fiscal Policies (February 2020).
  - SDN on Rising Corporate Market Power: Emerging Policy Issues (March 2020) will build on April 2019 WEO chapter to explore additional evidence of increased corporate market power and discuss policy implications.
- Other analytical perspectives:
  - Assessing Country Vulnerability at the Fund (December 2019) briefed on the methodology of risk assessment.

### The Fund’s work on negative interest rates and “lower-for-longer” (Box 2)
- Challenges and themes:
  - Very low, and in some cases, negative interest rates raise questions on further rate cuts, unintended consequences (search for yield, buildup of leverage, spillovers and distributional consequences), and adequacy of policymakers’ tools.
- Identified causes under study:
  - Demographics, low productivity, scarring from the global financial crisis, higher savings from emerging markets, and an outward shift in demand for safe assets; the hypothesis of secular stagnation is noted.
- Past and planned work:
  - 2013 policy paper surveyed experience and prospects for unconventional monetary policy.
  - April 2014 WEO included analysis of real interest rates, concluding a major common, global component to movements in domestic real interest rates.
  - 2017 paper looked at experience of negative interest rates and assessed their usefulness; a clarification note on the statistical treatment of negative interest rates was issued in 2017.
  - Fall 2019 GFSR emphasized medium-term risks to growth and stability due to accommodative conditions and lower-for-longer environment.
  - Management Implementation Plan on the IEO Report on IMF Advice on Unconventional Monetary Policies will address IEO recommendations.
  - A new Monetary Policy Modeling Unit is tasked with strengthening surveillance and policy research on low interest rates.
  - Spring 2020 WEO will feature two chapters analyzing policy challenges in an environment of limited policy space for both advanced economies and emerging markets.
  - Spring 2020 GFSR will analyze channels through which low/negative rates impact banks.
  - Briefing on the Impact of Low or Negative Interest Rates (July 2020) will provide broad stock taking of empirical evidence; a stock-taking paper on negative interest rates will be prepared by Fall 2020.
  - Fall 2020 GFSR will analyze financial spillovers from unconventional monetary policy.
  - Briefing on the Distributional Effects of Monetary Policy (Spring 2020) will be followed by a paper.
- Policy focus:
  - Work will continue on policies to raise productivity and potential growth to support exit from lower-for-longer, and to better understand interaction of monetary policy with fiscal and structural policies.

### Contribute to improving the multilateral system and upgrading international frameworks and cooperation
- Trade and digital currency work:
  - Board briefing on Developments in Global Trade Policy and discussion of Digital Currencies—Prospects and Cross-Border Implications.
  - Staff will brief the Board on Trade Developments in May 2020.
  - Board Paper on Digital Currencies—Prospects and Cross-Border Implications (July 2020) will examine implications of digital currencies for cross-border payments and the international monetary system.
- Measurement and illicit flows:
  - Measuring Economic Welfare in the Digital Age (March 2020) will explore indicators of economic welfare beyond GDP and suggest measures to capture welfare growth in the digital economy.
  - Measuring the Informal Economy (August 2020) will present definitions, scope and compilation practices to estimate the size of the informal economy.
  - Stock-take on the Fund’s Work on Illicit Financial Flows (September 2020) will showcase work related to illicit financial flows and identify gaps to be addressed.
  - Board briefing on Update on Trends in Correspondent Banking Relationships in March 2020.

### The Fund’s work on fintech (Box 3)
- Strategy and engagement:
  - Multi-faceted strategy building on the Bali Fintech Agenda to engage membership through analytical work, surveillance, capacity development, and global dialogue.
- Analytical priorities and outputs:
  - Board Paper on Digital Currencies—Prospects and Cross-Border Implications will examine cross-border payments implications and impact on international monetary system stability.
  - SDN on Financial Inclusion and Fintech will focus on impact on financial inclusion.
  - SDN on Cyber-Security and Financial Stability will analyze cyber-security risks and financial stability implications.
  - Analytical work has advanced on digital currencies, data protection, and legal and regulatory frameworks.

### Fintech, surveillance, and capacity development (Box 3 continued)
- Cybersecurity and knowledge products:
  - The Fund will stock-take the threats arising from cyber risks and assess approaches to managing cybersecurity.
  - A new IMF series on Fintech Notes will provide insights on the pressing topics in the digital economy based on staff research.
- Surveillance and capacity development (CD):
  - Discussions on fintech have taken place in a growing number of Article IV consultations.
  - A pilot exercise to incorporate fintech issues within the FSAP framework has been completed (Singapore FSAP Technical Note).
  - Staff is integrating financial and macro-financial issues, including fintech, into surveillance through the CSR and FSAP Review.
  - Fintech is targeted as an area for increased coverage in CD.
- Global dialogue and collaboration:
  - Continue to foster peer-to-peer learning and collaborate with standard-setting bodies.
  - Organize high-level seminars, support international fora, and participate in various working groups.

### G-20 notes, debt issues, and stablecoins
- Close collaboration with the World Bank on debt issues.
- Board engagements and briefings (month and year preserved):
  - Joint G-20 Note on Public Sector Definition and Debt Data Coverage and a briefing on the joint G-20 Note on Collateralized Sovereign Lending (January 2020).
  - G-20 Note on Sovereign Debt Resolution (May 2020).
  - G-20 Note on Macro Implications of Stablecoins for Monetary Sovereignty (July 2020).
  - Joint G-20 Note on the Developments in Local Currency Bond Markets in Emerging Markets (January 2020).
  - G-20 Note on Access to Opportunities (May 2020).
  - Regular G-20 Report on Strong, Sustainable, Balanced, and Inclusive Growth (October 2020).
  - G-20 Surveillance Notes (February and July 2020).
  - G-20 Data Gaps Initiative (DGI-2) Progress Report—Countdown to 2021 (September 2020).

### Reviews and Board papers on financial sector and fragile states
- Key outputs:
  - Adapting National Prudential Approaches to the International Reform Agenda: Lessons from Experience (May 2020).
  - Building Capacity in Monetary and Financial Policies in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (June 2020).
  - Revenue Mobilization in Developing Countries (February 2020) and the Work of the Platform for Collaboration on Tax—An Update (March 2020).

### Modernize Fund policy toolkits and surveillance reviews
- Surveillance reviews and operational work:
  - Comprehensive Surveillance Review (CSR) and Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) Review to adapt surveillance to future challenges.
  - Systemic Risk Assessments and Macroprudential Policy Advice in Article IV Staff Reports to strengthen systemic risk assessments and integrate the Macroprudential Policy Framework in surveillance.
  - Review of Debt Sustainability Framework for Market Access Countries and Review of the Debt Limits Policy to make proposals to the Board to improve debt policies.
- Board discussions and review timeline (month and year preserved):
  - Concrete proposals on the 2020 Comprehensive Surveillance Review and the 2020 Financial Sector Assessment Program Review (jointly with the WB) (April 2020).
  - Review of Data Provision to the Fund for Surveillance Purposes and Article VIII, Section 5 Issues (November 2020).
  - Review of the Framework for Excessive Delays in Completion of Article IV Consultations and Mandatory Financial Stability Assessments (December 2020).
  - The Systemic Risk Assessments and Macroprudential Policy Advice in Article IV Staff Reports: Operational Challenges (April and July 2020).
  - The Board will receive the 2019 Annual Report on Delayed Article IV Consultations and Mandatory Financial Stability Assessments, and Outstanding Article XIV Consultations (February 2020).

### Lending policies, guidance notes, and safeguard reviews
- Guidance and Board engagements (month and year preserved):
  - Staff preparing guidance notes following major reviews of the Fund’s lending toolkits; guidance to be shared with the Board in due course.
  - Review of Eligibility to Use the Fund’s Facilities for Concessional Financing (February 2020).
  - Policy Safeguards for PRGT-eligible Countries Seeking High Levels of Access to Fund Resources (February and May 2020).
  - Misreporting Policies—Selected Issues (August 2020).
  - Safeguard Assessments—Review of Experience (October 2020).
  - Update on the Financing of the Fund’s Concessional Assistance and Debt Relief to Low-Income Member Countries (October 2020).
  - Review of the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) (September 2020).
- Analytical work:
  - Staff undertaking comprehensive analysis of monetary policy conditionality and design in IMF programs; to be considered by the Board in due time.

### Debt policies and joint WB-IMF initiatives
- Two major reviews on the Fund’s debt policies to be completed in 2020:
  - Review of Debt Sustainability Framework for Market Access Countries — Board engagement in February 2020; formal meeting in May 2020 to discuss staff recommendations.
  - Review of the Debt Limits Policy — Board engagement in January 2020; formal meeting in May 2020 to review implementation since its June 2015 introduction.
  - Update on the Joint WB-IMF Multipronged Approach for Addressing Emerging Debt Vulnerabilities (May 2020).

### Capacity development integration and regional briefings
- Integration and priorities:
  - In line with the Fund’s CD strategy, staff will continue efforts to increase CD effectiveness by better integrating it with surveillance and lending operations.
  - Implementation of Capacity Development Priorities (February 2020) — engage Directors on CD delivery against priorities and progress in integration with surveillance and lending.
  - Board briefings on area departments’ CD strategies, including Capacity Building in the Middle East and Central Asia (February 2020) and other regional briefings.

### Fund finances, governance, quota reviews, and IEO engagements
- Maintain a strong, quota-based, and adequately resourced Fund; secure the package agreed by the membership during the 2019 Annual Meetings to maintain the current level of Fund resources.
- Board consideration (month and year preserved):
  - Fifteenth and Sixteenth General Reviews of Quotas—Draft Report of the Executive Board to the Board of Governors (January 2020).
  - Doubling of the New Arrangements to Borrow with the Proposed Decision to Modify the New Arrangements to Borrow and to Extend the Deadline for a Review of the Borrowing Guidelines (January 2020).
  - Maintaining Access to Bilateral Borrowing and Review of the Borrowing Guidelines (March 2020).
  - Review of the Adequacy of the Fund’s Precautionary Balances (February 2020).
  - Review of the Fund’s Income Position for FY2020 and FY2021-2022 (April 2020).
  - The Annual Report of the Investment Account and Trust Accounts for FY2020 (briefing in August 2020).
- Work with the IEO:
  - Periodic Monitoring Report and Categorization of Open Actions in Management Implementation Plans (January 2020).
  - Management Implementation Plan on the IEO Report on IMF Advice on Unconventional Monetary Policies (January 2020).
  - IEO evaluation on Working with Partners: IMF Collaboration with the World Bank on Macro-Structural Issues (March 2020).
  - IEO Evaluation—The IMF Advice on Capital Flows (July 2020).

### Internal modernization, HR, and Big 5 projects
- Board discussion and implementation activities (month and year preserved):
  - Diversity and Inclusion Report discussed in December 2019; follow-up Board engagement on the 2025 Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarks (August 2020).
  - Formal discussion on the Comprehensive Compensation and Benefits Review (CCBR) took place in December 2019.
  - Implementation of the HR Strategy underway with launch of enhanced performance management and key pillars on leadership and change, and succession management.
  - Sequenced rollout in 2020 of strategy initiatives including career paths, mobility, and a talent inventory.
  - Implementation of HR Strategy and 1HR briefing (November 2019); 2020 Review of Staff Compensation; Staff Recruitment and Retention Experience in CY2019 (April 2020).
- Big 5 reporting and briefings:
  - Periodic Report on Big 5 Modernization Projects (January).
  - Update on the Institutional Modernization Projects and on Change Management (February).
  - FY2021-FY2023 Medium-Term Budget briefing (January 2020) and engagement on preliminary proposals (February 2020) ahead of formal meeting in April 2020.
  - Briefings on Budget Trends and Initiatives (September 2020), Corporate Services and Facilities: Overview of Activities and Initiatives (February 2020).
  - Briefings on the Update on the IMF Communications Strategy (January 2020), Integrated Digital Workplace—Cost Benefit Analysis and Knowledge Management (both in May 2020).
- The Big 5 projects are:
  - (i) transformation of the HR system and operating model (1HR);
  - (ii) reformed Capacity Development Management and Administration Processes (CDMAP);
  - (iii) a next generation economic data platform (iDATA);
  - (iv) development of an Integrated Digital Workplace (IDW); and
  - (v) enhanced Knowledge Management (KM).

*Source: ppea2020002 - 2020. Policy options to enhance engagement in fragile and conflict-affected states will be*

### 2020. Policy options to enhance engagement in fragile and conflict-affected states will be

### 2020. Policy options to enhance engagement in fragile and conflict-affected states will be

### Key priorities of the Fall 2019 work program
- Support policy makers in resolving cross-border trade tensions, mitigating risks, and securing sustainable and inclusive growth:
  - Spring 2020 World Economic Outlook (WEO) will analyze capital flows in emerging markets and policies to counter the next downturn in advanced economies, as well as the determinants and effects of international migration.
  - Spring GFSR will examine how challenges from climate change are priced into financial assets (Box 1).
  - Fiscal Monitor (FM) will feature cross-country analysis on the role, economic importance, and fiscal impact of state-owned enterprises.
  - 2020 External Sector Report (ESR) (July 2020) will provide a multilaterally-consistent assessment of the largest economies’ external positions.
  - External Sector Assessments for non-ESR countries (February 2020) will expand analysis to non-ESR countries.
  - Briefings on Global Financial Markets Developments are planned for November 2019 and May 2020.
- Regional and macro risk work:
  - Report on Macroeconomic Developments and Prospects in Low-Income Developing Countries (LIDCs) in November.
  - Evolution of Public Debt Vulnerabilities in Lower Income Countries (January 2020), including implications of the changing creditor landscape and increasing complexity of debt instruments.
  - Early Warning Exercise engagement in April and October 2020.

### Climate change (Box 1)
- Deepening analysis and integrating climate change implications into core operations:
  - Board paper Fiscal policies for Paris Climate Strategies provided country-level guidance on the role and design of fiscal policies for mitigation strategies.
  - Building Resilience in Developing Countries Vulnerable to Large Natural Disasters proposed a framework for developing comprehensive, multi-pronged disaster resilience strategies.
- Flagship embedding and planned analyses:
  - Fall 2019 FM focused on design of fiscal policies including carbon taxes and emission trading systems for climate mitigation at domestic and international levels.
  - Fall 2019 GFSR covered climate issues in a chapter on sustainable finance, calling for developing standards, fostering disclosure and transparency, and promoting integration of sustainability considerations into investments and business decisions.
  - Spring 2020 GFSR will study how climate change risks are priced into financial assets.
  - An analysis on the macroeconomic implications of climate mitigation policies is planned for Fall 2020 or Spring 2021 WEO.
- Surveillance and tools:
  - The CSR features climate change as a salient trend impacting growth and economic and financial stability.
  - The 2020 FSAP Review is looking into improvements in coverage of climate risks to financial stability, including through strengthening climate-related stress tests.
  - Staff will prepare a how-to note on integrating climate change systematically into IMF surveillance within the Fund’s surveillance mandate.
  - Staff will review Climate Change Policy Assessments (jointly conducted with the WB) to take stock and draw lessons from their application in pilot countries.
  - Staff is looking into the social impact of fuel subsidies and potential productivity gains from large-scale green investments in advanced economies.

### Economic and financial research (major workstreams)
- Monetary, financial, and macrofinancial research:
  - IPF (March and June 2020) will provide a more systematic assessment of an effective policy mix of monetary, exchange rate, macroprudential and capital flow management policies.
  - Management Implementation Plan on the IEO Report on IMF Advice on Unconventional Monetary Policies (January 2020) will present work streams to deepen expertise on monetary policy issues, including low or negative interest rates.
  - Briefing on the Impact of Low or Negative Interest Rates (July 2020) will assess impacts through modeling work and empirical analysis.
  - Board paper Central Bank Governance After the Global Financial Crisis: In Search of Emerging Good Practices (June 2020) will focus on expanded mandates of central banks and implications for governance arrangements and operations.
  - Briefing on the Distributional Effects of Monetary Policy (May 2020) will study distributional implications of central banks’ monetary easing for advanced economies and emerging and developing economies, and outline policy implications.
- Staff Discussion Notes (SDNs) and studies:
  - SDNs on Financial Services and Inequality (January 2020) and Financial Inclusion and Fintech (February 2020).
  - SDN Exchange Rates and External Adjustment: The Role of Dominant Currencies (March 2020).
  - SDN on Cyber-Security Risk and Financial Stability (May 2020).
  - SDN Women in the Labor Force: The Role of Fiscal Policies (February 2020).
  - SDN on Rising Corporate Market Power: Emerging Policy Issues (March 2020) will build on April 2019 WEO chapter to explore additional evidence of increased corporate market power and discuss policy implications.
- Other analytical perspectives:
  - Assessing Country Vulnerability at the Fund (December 2019) briefed on the methodology of risk assessment.

### The Fund’s work on negative interest rates and “lower-for-longer” (Box 2)
- Challenges and themes:
  - Very low, and in some cases, negative interest rates raise questions on further rate cuts, unintended consequences (search for yield, buildup of leverage, spillovers and distributional consequences), and adequacy of policymakers’ tools.
- Identified causes under study:
  - Demographics, low productivity, scarring from the global financial crisis, higher savings from emerging markets, and an outward shift in demand for safe assets; the hypothesis of secular stagnation is noted.
- Past and planned work:
  - 2013 policy paper surveyed experience and prospects for unconventional monetary policy.
  - April 2014 WEO included analysis of real interest rates, concluding a major common, global component to movements in domestic real interest rates.
  - 2017 paper looked at experience of negative interest rates and assessed their usefulness; a clarification note on the statistical treatment of negative interest rates was issued in 2017.
  - Fall 2019 GFSR emphasized medium-term risks to growth and stability due to accommodative conditions and lower-for-longer environment.
  - Management Implementation Plan on the IEO Report on IMF Advice on Unconventional Monetary Policies will address IEO recommendations.
  - A new Monetary Policy Modeling Unit is tasked with strengthening surveillance and policy research on low interest rates.
  - Spring 2020 WEO will feature two chapters analyzing policy challenges in an environment of limited policy space for both advanced economies and emerging markets.
  - Spring 2020 GFSR will analyze channels through which low/negative rates impact banks.
  - Briefing on the Impact of Low or Negative Interest Rates (July 2020) will provide broad stock taking of empirical evidence; a stock-taking paper on negative interest rates will be prepared by Fall 2020.
  - Fall 2020 GFSR will analyze financial spillovers from unconventional monetary policy.
  - Briefing on the Distributional Effects of Monetary Policy (Spring 2020) will be followed by a paper.
- Policy focus:
  - Work will continue on policies to raise productivity and potential growth to support exit from lower-for-longer, and to better understand interaction of monetary policy with fiscal and structural policies.

### Contribute to improving the multilateral system and upgrading international frameworks and cooperation
- Trade and digital currency work:
  - Board briefing on Developments in Global Trade Policy and discussion of Digital Currencies—Prospects and Cross-Border Implications.
  - Staff will brief the Board on Trade Developments in May 2020.
  - Board Paper on Digital Currencies—Prospects and Cross-Border Implications (July 2020) will examine implications of digital currencies for cross-border payments and the international monetary system.
- Measurement and illicit flows:
  - Measuring Economic Welfare in the Digital Age (March 2020) will explore indicators of economic welfare beyond GDP and suggest measures to capture welfare growth in the digital economy.
  - Measuring the Informal Economy (August 2020) will present definitions, scope and compilation practices to estimate the size of the informal economy.
  - Stock-take on the Fund’s Work on Illicit Financial Flows (September 2020) will showcase work related to illicit financial flows and identify gaps to be addressed.
  - Board briefing on Update on Trends in Correspondent Banking Relationships in March 2020.

### The Fund’s work on fintech (Box 3)
- Multi-faceted strategy building on the Bali Fintech Agenda to engage membership through analytical work, surveillance, capacity development, and global dialogue.
- Analytical priorities and outputs:
  - Board Paper on Digital Currencies—Prospects and Cross-Border Implications will examine cross-border payments implications and impact on international monetary system stability.
  - SDN on Financial Inclusion and Fintech will focus on impact on financial inclusion.
  - SDN on Cyber-Security and Financial Stability will analyze cyber-security risks and financial stability implications.
  - Analytical work has advanced on digital currencies, data protection, and legal and regulatory frameworks.

### Modernize the Fund’s policy toolkits and safeguard institutional strength
- Surveillance and risk frameworks:
  - Comprehensive Surveillance Review (CSR) and Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) Review to adapt surveillance to future challenges.
  - Systemic Risk Assessments and Macroprudential Policy Advice in Article IV Staff Reports to strengthen systemic risk assessments and integrate the Macroprudential Policy Framework in surveillance.
  - Review of Debt Sustainability Framework for Market Access Countries and Review of the Debt Limits Policy to make proposals to the Board to improve debt policies.
- Institutional modernization and human resources:
  - Board will consider the Fifteenth and Sixteenth General Reviews of Quotas—Draft Report of the Executive Board to the Board of Governors and engage on Fund resources to maintain the current envelope.
  - The Board discussed the Diversity and Inclusion Report and the Comprehensive Compensation and Benefits Review and was briefed on the Implementation of HR Strategy and 1HR.
  - Update on Institutional Modernization Projects and on Change Management is scheduled.

*Source: ppea2020002 - 2020. Policy options to enhance engagement in fragile and conflict-affected states will be*

### Box 3. The Fund’s Work on Fintech

### Box 3. The Fund’s Work on Fintech (concluded)

### Fintech, surveillance, and capacity development
- The Fund will stock-take the threats arising from cyber risks and assess approaches to managing cybersecurity.
- A new IMF series on Fintech Notes will provide insights on the pressing topics in the digital economy based on staff research.
- Surveillance and CD will continue to deepen the coverage of fintech issues:
  - Discussions on fintech have taken place in a growing number of Article IV consultations.
  - A pilot exercise to incorporate fintech issues within the FSAP framework has been completed (Singapore FSAP Technical Note).
  - Staff is integrating financial and macro-financial issues, including fintech, into surveillance through the CSR and FSAP Review.
  - Fintech is targeted as an area for increased coverage in CD.
- The Fund will continue to serve as a platform for global dialogue, collaboration and knowledge sharing:
  - Continue to foster peer-to-peer learning and collaborate with standard-setting bodies.
  - Organize high-level seminars, support international fora, and participate in various working groups.

### G-20 notes, debt issues, and stablecoins
- The Fund will continue close collaboration with the World Bank on debt issues.
- Board engagements and briefings scheduled (month and year preserved):
  - Joint G-20 Note on Public Sector Definition and Debt Data Coverage and a briefing on the joint G-20 Note on Collateralized Sovereign Lending (January 2020).
  - G-20 Note on Sovereign Debt Resolution (May 2020) — review how the shifting debt landscape is affecting the resolution of debt crises and identify gaps in the contractual framework for sovereign debt resolution.
  - G-20 Note on Macro Implications of Stablecoins for Monetary Sovereignty (July 2020) — examine the roles of public and private digital currencies and their cross-border macro implications.
  - Joint G-20 Note on the Developments in Local Currency Bond Markets in Emerging Markets (January 2020).
  - G-20 Note on Access to Opportunities (May 2020) — study the ex-ante drivers of inequality and their links to social mobility and economic growth; identify policies to close gaps in access to opportunities across gender, skill, age, etc.
  - Regular G-20 Report on Strong, Sustainable, Balanced, and Inclusive Growth (October 2020).
  - G-20 Surveillance Notes (February and July 2020).
  - G-20 Data Gaps Initiative (DGI-2) Progress Report—Countdown to 2021 (September 2020).

### Reviews and Board papers on financial sector and fragile states
- Adapting National Prudential Approaches to the International Reform Agenda: Lessons from Experience (May 2020) — analyze key considerations in enhancing and adapting banking system prudential and supervisory frameworks; draw lessons from technical assistance missions and FSAPs.
- Building Capacity in Monetary and Financial Policies in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (June 2020) — design and implementation of central banking and financial system reforms (follow-up to Update on Implementation of Measures to Strengthen Fund Engagement in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States briefing in November).
- Revenue Mobilization in Developing Countries (February 2020) and the Work of the Platform for Collaboration on Tax—An Update (March 2020) — focus on tax administration and policy issues in selected developing countries.

### Modernize Fund policy toolkits and surveillance reviews
- Board discussions and review timeline (month and year preserved):
  - Concrete proposals on the 2020 Comprehensive Surveillance Review and the 2020 Financial Sector Assessment Program Review (jointly with the WB) (April 2020).
  - Review of Data Provision to the Fund for Surveillance Purposes and Article VIII, Section 5 Issues (November 2020) — determine and operationalize the data and statistical needs for surveillance.
  - Review of the Framework for Excessive Delays in Completion of Article IV Consultations and Mandatory Financial Stability Assessments (December 2020).
- The Systemic Risk Assessments and Macroprudential Policy Advice in Article IV Staff Reports: Operational Challenges (April and July 2020) — review assessment of systemic risk and macroprudential policy advice; identify operational challenges and discuss possible avenues to overcome them.
- The Board will receive the 2019 Annual Report on Delayed Article IV Consultations and Mandatory Financial Stability Assessments, and Outstanding Article XIV Consultations (February 2020).

### Lending policies, guidance notes, and safeguard reviews
- Staff preparing guidance notes following major reviews of the Fund’s lending toolkits; guidance to be shared with the Board in due course.
- Specific Board engagements (month and year preserved):
  - Review of Eligibility to Use the Fund’s Facilities for Concessional Financing (February 2020) — refine methodology for assessing market access, including appropriate use of data sources; clarify the criterion for serious short-term vulnerabilities; discuss selected other issues.
  - Policy Safeguards for PRGT-eligible Countries Seeking High Levels of Access to Fund Resources (February and May 2020) — engage Board on safeguard policy for PRGT countries seeking high levels of access.
  - Misreporting Policies—Selected Issues (August 2020) — review implementation aspects of the Fund’s misreporting policies.
  - Safeguard Assessments—Review of Experience (October 2020) — examine experience with the safeguards policy.
  - Update on the Financing of the Fund’s Concessional Assistance and Debt Relief to Low-Income Member Countries (October 2020).
  - Review of the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) (September 2020).
- Staff undertaking comprehensive analysis of monetary policy conditionality and design in IMF programs; to be considered by the Board in due time.

### Debt policies and joint WB-IMF initiatives
- Two major reviews on the Fund’s debt policies to be completed in 2020:
  - Review of Debt Sustainability Framework for Market Access Countries — Board engagement in February 2020; formal meeting in May 2020 to discuss staff recommendations.
  - Review of the Debt Limits Policy — Board engagement in January 2020; formal meeting in May 2020 to review implementation since its June 2015 introduction.
  - Update on the Joint WB-IMF Multipronged Approach for Addressing Emerging Debt Vulnerabilities (May 2020).

### Capacity development integration and regional briefings
- In line with the Fund’s CD strategy, staff will continue efforts to increase CD effectiveness by better integrating it with surveillance and lending operations.
- Implementation of Capacity Development Priorities (February 2020) — engage Directors on CD delivery against priorities and progress in integration with surveillance and lending.
- Board briefings on area departments’ CD strategies, including Capacity Building in the Middle East and Central Asia (February 2020) and other regional briefings.

### Fund finances, governance, quota reviews, and IEO engagements
- To maintain a strong, quota-based, and adequately resourced Fund, staff will work to secure the package agreed by the membership during the 2019 Annual Meetings to maintain the current level of Fund resources.
- Board consideration (month and year preserved):
  - Fifteenth and Sixteenth General Reviews of Quotas—Draft Report of the Executive Board to the Board of Governors (January 2020).
  - Doubling of the New Arrangements to Borrow with the Proposed Decision to Modify the New Arrangements to Borrow and to Extend the Deadline for a Review of the Borrowing Guidelines (January 2020).
  - Maintaining Access to Bilateral Borrowing and Review of the Borrowing Guidelines (March 2020).
  - Review of the Adequacy of the Fund’s Precautionary Balances (February 2020).
  - Review of the Fund’s Income Position for FY2020 and FY2021-2022 (April 2020).
  - The Annual Report of the Investment Account and Trust Accounts for FY2020 (briefing in August 2020).
- Work with the IEO to strengthen the Fund’s learning culture and follow up on evaluations:
  - Periodic Monitoring Report and Categorization of Open Actions in Management Implementation Plans (January 2020).
  - Management Implementation Plan on the IEO Report on IMF Advice on Unconventional Monetary Policies (January 2020).
  - IEO evaluation on Working with Partners: IMF Collaboration with the World Bank on Macro-Structural Issues (March 2020).
  - IEO Evaluation—The IMF Advice on Capital Flows (July 2020).

### Internal modernization, HR, and Big 5 projects
- Board discussion and implementation activities (month and year preserved):
  - Diversity and Inclusion Report discussed in December 2019; follow-up Board engagement on the 2025 Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarks (August 2020).
  - Formal discussion on the Comprehensive Compensation and Benefits Review (CCBR) took place in December 2019.
  - Implementation of the HR Strategy underway with launch of enhanced performance management and key pillars on leadership and change, and succession management.
  - Sequenced rollout in 2020 of strategy initiatives including career paths, mobility, and a talent inventory.
  - Implementation of HR Strategy and 1HR briefing (November 2019); 2020 Review of Staff Compensation; Staff Recruitment and Retention Experience in CY2019 (April 2020).
- Board briefings on the Big 5 modernization projects will continue; the Board will receive:
  - Periodic Report on Big 5 Modernization Projects (January).
  - Update on the Institutional Modernization Projects and on Change Management (February).
  - FY2021-FY2023 Medium-Term Budget briefing (January 2020) and engagement on preliminary proposals (February 2020) ahead of formal meeting in April 2020.
  - Briefings on Budget Trends and Initiatives (September 2020), Corporate Services and Facilities: Overview of Activities and Initiatives (February 2020).
  - Briefings on the Update on the IMF Communications Strategy (January 2020), Integrated Digital Workplace—Cost Benefit Analysis and Knowledge Management (both in May 2020).
- The Big 5 projects are: (i) transformation of the HR system and operating model (1HR); (ii) reformed Capacity Development Management and Administration Processes (CDMAP); (iii) a next generation economic data platform (iDATA); (iv) development of an Integrated Digital Workplace (IDW); and (v) enhanced Knowledge Management (KM).

*Source: ppea2020002 - Box 3. The Fund’s Work on Fintech (concluded).*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/pp/2020/english/ppea2020002.pdf_