## Tenth Periodic Monitoring Report — EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (ppea2020012) ## Source details **Canonical URL:** [Tenth Periodic Monitoring Report — EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (ppea2020012)](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/pp/2020/english/ppea2020012.pdf) ## Other formats - [Markdown version](/-/media/files/publications/pp/2020/english/ppea2020012.pdf.md) - [Structured JSON version](/-/media/files/publications/pp/2020/english/ppea2020012.pdf.json) --- ### Overview and methodology - Report: Tenth Periodic Monitoring Report (PMR) on the Status of Management Implementation Plans (MIPs) in Response to Board-Endorsed Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) Recommendations. - Coverage: Progress made over the last year on actions contained in 10 MIPs with open management actions. - Report date shown: December 13, 2019. - OIA assumed responsibility for preparing the PMR from SPR in February 2014. - Methodology: - OIA met with senior staff from the IEO, SPR, and all departments accountable for implementing management actions. - The report relies on staff reports to the Executive Board and management, and information obtained in meetings with senior staff. - Given the qualitative nature of many management actions, assessment of implementation involves a degree of judgment. ### Key implementation statistics - Total actions assessed in this PMR: 62. - Actions implemented during the past year: 16. - Of these 16 implemented actions, 12 are related to MIPs approved after 2015 and 4 are from older MIPs. - Actions remaining open: 46. - Of the 46 open actions, 24 face implementation challenges and are mostly from older MIPs. - Original total actions across the ten MIPs: 115. - Of these 115 original actions, 69 actions have been implemented to date and 46 remain open. - Ninth PMR comparison: - Ninth PMR originally covered 96 actions in nine MIPs, of which 42 actions remained open. - Eighth PMR comparison: - Eight MIPs in the Eighth PMR originally contained 77 actions, of which 34 remained open at that time. ### Process and follow-up developments - Follow-up process improvements approved by the Executive Board in October 2015 continue to contribute to relatively speedier implementation of newer actions. - A triage framework (five categories) was developed by OIA to address open management actions; the EVC discussed the triage framework in January 2019 and recommended it for Executive Board approval in March 2019 on a lapse of time basis. - SPR prepared a “categorization paper” in consultation with OIA and accountable departments; it implements the triage framework and contains proposals for remediating and/or reprioritizing actions facing implementation challenges. - The categorization exercise contains 24 actions identified in this PMR as facing implementation challenges. - OIA’s assessment: where applicable, expected completion dates are indicated based on current progress; many actions in recent MIPs that remain open continue to make significant progress towards full implementation. ### Presentation elements included in the PMR - Figures referenced in the PMR: - Figure 1. High Level View of the Evaluation and Follow-up Process. - Figure 2. Status of Management Actions. - Figure 3. Management Actions Contained in Successive PMRs. - Glossary of acronyms provided (selected examples include: FCS, IEO, MIPs, OIA, PMR, SPR, IMFC, AFR, FAD, HRD, ICD, MCD, MCM, WEO). --- ### Implementation status highlights by theme (summary) - Faster implementation pace observed for actions in newer MIPs compared with older MIPs. - Strong progress reported on actions in response to: - The IMF and Social Protection (2017). - The IMF and Fragile States (2018). - The MIP for Behind the Scenes with Data at the IMF (2016) is making good progress toward many actions due in the future, despite some challenges. - A number of actions are delayed beyond their original target implementation dates but continue to make progress. ### Executive oversight and Board considerations - SPR’s categorization paper and its proposals for the 24 actions facing implementation challenges are presented to the Executive Board jointly with this Tenth PMR for Board consideration. - Management and staff are reviewing actions with implementation challenges, with the objective of proposing appropriate interventions for Executive Board consideration, focusing on high-priority actions. --- ### The IMF and Fragile States (2018) — progress and selected management actions - Evaluation findings (IEO): IMF has made important contributions in fragile states (restore macroeconomic stability, build core macroeconomic policy institutions, catalyze donor support), but the IMF’s approach to fragile states seemed conflicted and outcomes fell short of potential. The evaluation identified scope for: - A strong public signal of commitment to fragile states. - Institutional mechanisms to promote and coordinate work internally and externally. - Individual country strategies integrating policy advice, financial support, and capacity building. - Improvements in financing instruments and delivery of capacity development support. - Strengthening IMF teams working on fragile states and pragmatic ways to increase IMF presence on the ground while minimizing staff risk exposure. - MIP: 12 actions envisaged across six recommendations; five actions have been implemented; the remainder face no obvious challenges and are expected to be implemented in reasonable time. Selected management actions and status: - MANAGEMENT ACTION: Issue a management statement on the importance of the Fund’s work on countries in fragile and conflict situations for the approval of the Board and consideration by the IMFC in October 2018. - STATUS: IMPLEMENTED. - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR and SEC. - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: October 2018. - Note: A statement by the Managing Director, approved by the Executive Board and subsequently endorsed by the IMFC, was issued on October 4, 2018. The IMFC communique of October 13, 2018 endorsed the Managing Director’s statement and called for full and timely implementation of management’s plan. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1 (High-Level Committee): Establish a high-level committee that will report twice a year in a formal meeting with management to seek management guidance to the action plan. - STATUS: OPEN. - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR (with other departments). - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: October 2018. - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-FY2020. - Progress: A High-Level Interdepartmental Committee on Fund Engagement in FCS was established in late 2018 and has met on two occasions. The Committee is chaired by the Director of SPR and comprises the Directors of AFR, FAD, HRD, ICD, MCD, and MCM. Immediate strategic priorities identified include addressing HR issues, improving communications, and promoting strategic engagement at the country level. - Board briefing (November 11, 2019) covered: - Intensified program and surveillance engagement. - Adapting the toolkit for financial support. - Integration of surveillance, capacity development and financial support. - Remaining challenges: rolling out impactful country engagement strategies; better tailoring program engagement to country capacity; and strategic workforce and career planning. Progress on IEO Recommendations — Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (FCS) and Social Protection (paragraphs 14–25) - Review of FCS Engagement: - Staff plan to prepare a formal paper on the Review of FCS Engagement by the end of 2020. No obstacles are anticipated at this stage. - IEO recommendation: Develop forward looking, holistic country strategies integrating policy advice, financial support, and capacity building as part of the Article IV surveillance process. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Staff to provide an informal briefing on implementing this MIP. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR (with other departments) - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: End-2019 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3: Staff will prepare a Board paper on Review of FCS Engagement. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR (with other departments) - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: End-2020 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - Area department FCS country teams to prepare succinct country engagement strategies as part of staff reports for Art. IV and new program requests. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: Area Departments (monitored by SPR) - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Starting from Q1 2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - A provisional guidance note for preparation of country engagement strategies was deployed in early 2019; staff plan to update and finalize by the end of 2020. - Lending toolkit adaptations for FCS: - IEO recommendation: Adapt the Fund’s lending toolkit to deliver more sustained financial support to fragile states. - Reform outcomes (2018-19 Review of Facilities for Low-Income Countries—Reform Proposals, approved May 2019): - Generalized access increase of one-third to concessional financing, favoring poorest LICs. - For FCS specifically: - Doubling the annual RCF limit under the regular window (in addition to generalized access increase of one-third). - Increasing the annual and cumulative access limits for the RFI, in line with the generalized access increase. - For countries facing substantial near-term uncertainties, making full use of the flexibility allowed under the ECF. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: A staff paper on adapting the lending toolkit to support FCS (following options presented at the Review of Fund Facilities for LICs, July 20, 2018) will consider formal proposals. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, LEG, and FIN - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Q1 2019 - Overdue financial obligations: - Somalia: Review completed and discussed by the Executive Board in July 2019 alongside the 2019 Article IV Consultation and request for new staff-monitored program. Directors supported progress toward HIPC Decision Point and recognized need to mobilize financing for debt relief including Fund costs. - Sudan: Review delayed and postponed three times until June 15, 2020 due to internal country issues. Next review expected to be discussed with Sudan’s 2019 Article IV consultation, scheduled in the first quarter of 2020. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Report efforts to mobilize broad creditor support for FCS with external arrears to official creditors, including arrears to the Fund, in the context of the upcoming reviews of overdue financial obligations for Sudan and Somalia. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: FIN and SPR - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: March 2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: 2020 - Capacity development (CD) for FCS: - Recommendations: Strengthen impact of Fund’s CD support to fragile and conflict situations; explore multi-donor trust fund. - Review of the Fund’s CD Strategy discussed by Executive Board in November 2018; Directors broadly supported conclusions. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Report to Management on FCS staffing gaps. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: FAD, SPR, and OBP - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: October 2018 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1 (CD): CD Strategy Review (for Board consideration) will include a focus on FCS. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: ICD - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: November 2018 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2 (MDTF case): Report to management on the case for a dedicated Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) or a coordinated set of bilateral projects for FCS to target CD gaps. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: ICD (with other departments) - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: September 2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - MCM and STA staff papers: Prepare two staff papers on lessons from building financial and statistical capacity in FCS for Board discussions by end-2020. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3: - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: MCM and STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: December 2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - Staffing, incentives, and field presence in FCS: - HR strategy review to consider stronger recognition for staff working on FCS; formal HR policy position expected to be announced by end-2019 as part of HR strategy review. - HRD expected to launch an enhanced career mobility framework along with a career playbook for all job families by FY20 Q3, incorporating FCS-related incentives. - FAD reallocated six fiscal economists in FY20 from non-fragile to fragile states. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1 (HR strategy): The HR Strategy Review will look into strategic workforce and career planning, including recruitment, and will consider actions to ensure the Fund has appropriate staff expertise and experience to work effectively in fragile states, including the introduction of a “career” playbook to incentivize staff to work on FCS. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: HRD - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Progress assessed at end-2020 in the review of FCS engagement - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 ### Social protection: strategy, guidance, training, and advisory support - IEO evaluation summary: IMF attention to social protection has increased but engagement varied across countries; recommended a strategic framework, tailored policy advice, more effective program design and conditionality, stronger collaboration with partners, and enhanced external communications. - Progress summary: In response to five recommendations, the MIP envisaged eight actions; four implemented, remaining expected to be completed in reasonable time. Selected management actions and status: - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: Staff will prepare a paper on a strategic framework on social protection issues for the Board’s consideration. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: FAD, SPR and COM - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: February 2019 - Executive Board discussed A Strategy for IMF Engagement on Social Spending in May 2019 and broadly endorsed it. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Staff will issue a follow-up guidance note to support the strategic framework for social protection. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: FAD and SPR - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: End-2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - Preparatory work includes sectoral background notes on pensions, social assistance, health, and education; FAD and SPR plan area department road shows; guidance note expected to explain macro-criticality and support tools. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3: An advisory group will be formed after issuance of the guidance note to provide support to country teams in operationalizing work on social protection. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: FAD - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: After issuance of the guidance note in 2020 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - MANAGEMENT ACTION (training): Staff will receive training [on social protection issues] if needed. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: FAD, ICD - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: After issuance of the guidance note in 2020 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - ICD and FAD plan to launch an internal training course on social spending in the Spring of 2020. Training of SPR and FAD reviewers has already started. Guidance Note on Social Safeguards (June 2018) and related actions - Guidance Note provides operational guidance on social safeguard issues with low-income countries. - Program design and conditionality on social safeguards should follow two general principles: - flexibility in accommodating country-specific circumstances and national priorities; and - clarity in the discussion of how program conditionality helps achieve the desired social safeguard goal. - 2018 Review of Program Design and Conditionality (endorsed May 2019) — key findings: - social expenditure was generally protected in Fund-supported programs; - About 90 percent of the PRGT programs and 20 percent of the GRA programs included conditionality on social spending; - Performance against indicative targets on social spending was broadly satisfactory with about 70 percent met across the PRGT and GRA; - For PRGT countries, social assistance, health, and education spending grew in real terms, on average, even under fiscal consolidation programs; - There was limited focus on the quality of social spending. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1 (Social Safeguards): Staff will issue a guidance note on strengthening social safeguards measures in low-income country programs. - STATUS: IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: First half of 2018 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2 (2018 Review of Conditionality): The 2018 Review of Conditionality will assess effectiveness of Fund conditionality on social protection. - STATUS: IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: November 2018 - External communications on social spending: - COM has started to implement the communication strategy; public launch in June 2019 with a speech by the Managing Director in Geneva. - MANAGEMENT ACTION (Communications): More staff resources will be allocated to enhance external communications in this area. - STATUS: OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: COM - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - Inter-institutional cooperation: - IMF senior-level staff have attended SPIAC-B meetings since early 2018. - MANAGEMENT ACTION (SPIAC-B): IMF senior-level staff will attend SPIAC-B meetings when the issue under discussion is relevant to Fund’s work. - STATUS: IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: FAD, SPR and COM --- ### Data, Standards, and STA role — sequencing, reviews, and implementation actions - Context: Responses to IEO evaluations on data highlighted need for a long-term overarching data strategy and prioritization of data needs. - Sequencing of reviews: - The Review of Data Provision to the Fund for Surveillance Purposes (DPF) sequencing has been modified to follow the Comprehensive Surveillance Review (CSR). - Under Board-approved schedule, the Review of DPF is expected to be performed every five years or more, as needed; CSR is performed every five years. - Staff are working on the 2020 CSR; the next Review of DPF will follow shortly after the CSR. - Issues to be addressed in the Review of DPF: - proposals to address outdated data categories among mandatory series; - updating the list of data required for surveillance; - enhancing timely provision of data; - conducting a more transparent and structured assessment of data adequacy for surveillance purposes. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1 (DPF/CSR sequencing): - Status: OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: December 2017 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 Tenth Review of Data Standards Initiative (DSI) and merging frameworks - Planned actions: - The Tenth Review of the IMF’s Data Standards Initiatives is to follow shortly after the Review of DPF in 2020. - The DPF review will consider aligning timeliness and periodicity understandings with publication expectations under the voluntary data dissemination standards (e-GDDS/SDDS/SDDS Plus). - The Tenth Review will make proposals for merging the frameworks of SDDS, SDDS Plus, and the enhanced e-GDDS. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2 (aligning data provision with publication): - Status: OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: FY2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2021 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3 (merging frameworks and new technologies): - Status: OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: FY2020 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2021 Standards, Codes, and Data Adequacy for Surveillance - STA introducing a New Assessment of Data Adequacy for Surveillance. - Pilot exercise: STA, supported by SPR and LEG, launching 20 pilot cases to test a draft questionnaire to guide the assessment of data adequacy. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 4 (ROSC/data quality integration): - Status: OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: FY2018 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2021 STA governance, publications, CD, and data management (excerpts) - STA operating under a new role and mandate within an overarching strategy on data and statistics approved by management in January 2018 and supported by the Executive Board in March 2018. - STA completed a review of publications and databases and phased out all print publications to go digital, including the International Financial Statistics (IFS) in January 2019. - Outcomes: modernized data publication, promoted mobile presence, enabled operational efficiencies; harmonized collection forms; removed nearly 1,000 country-specific indicators from the IFS. - Management actions: - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: Revisit the role and mandate of STA to ensure alignment with Fund core operations. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: September, 2017 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Review data publications, databases, and data sharing within the membership and among international agencies. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: To be determined - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3: STA to engage in more pro-active, structured consultation with area departments on methodological work to support surveillance priorities for LICs; issue revised Statistics Manuals (medium-term). - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2022 - Capacity development: - On average, 750 TA missions fielded by STA over the past eight years addressing data gaps and quality concerns. - STA CD delivered to fragile states increased from 24 percent in FY16 to 31 percent in FY19. - First online learning course under the D4D launched in September 2019. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 4: Align CD activities with Fund and membership needs. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 5: Devote greater attention to CD in fragile states and vulnerable program countries and foster integration with surveillance. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - Data governance and metadata: - Data Governance Group (DGG) established mid-2018 to develop data management standards and guidance. - Catalogue of Time Series (CTS) update: - “CTS 3.0” cleanup launched May 2017; fiscal sector update envisaged to be finalized by end-FY2020. - Comprehensive update not expected to be completed until end-2023, with an updated “CTS 4.0.” - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Adopt Fund-wide data management standards. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: 2017 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3: Undertake metadata cleanup. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: STA, area departments - MANAGEMENT ACTION 4: Update the Catalogue of Time Series (CTS). - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - MANAGEMENT ACTION 5: Incentivize use of the Common Surveillance Databases. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: STA, RES Common Surveillance Database (CSD) use and data access - CSD integrated into area department workflows; five cross-country exercises now source data from the CSD. - ITD’s Economic Data Interface project should reduce some data access challenges; iData expected to provide ultimate solution through a next-generation economic data lifecycle management platform. - DGG requested RES to provide periodic reports on CSD usage. Article IV reporting, statistical issues appendix (SIA), and data clarity - MANAGEMENT ACTION 6: Next Review of Data Provision to the Fund for Surveillance Purposes (DPF) to propose incorporation of results of new assessments of data adequacy for surveillance (revised ROSC) into a revised SIA and review requirement to discuss the SIA in the main body of Article IV staff report. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: FY 2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2021 - Draft plan for clarifying data in Fund publications pending review and operationalization in the Review of DPF. --- ### Knowledge Management, forecasting, and institutional learning - Knowledge Management (KM): - Permanent KM structure established; Knowledge Management Unit (KMU) established December 2016 and operating in full in mid-2017. - KE country pages launched December 2018 and available for all member countries. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1 (KM plan): Develop a plan to enhance knowledge management. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: KMU - Common Evaluation Framework (CEF) for CD: - New CEF introduced July 2016; operational guidance note delayed and expected completion: End-2020. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Develop a common evaluation framework, including self-evaluation, for IMF CD. - Status: OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: ICD - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - Macrofinancial integration and forecasting: - Macrofinancial initiative launched 2015; 2018 ISR reported macrofinancial analysis better integrated into bilateral surveillance. - MANAGEMENT ACTION to embed macrofinancial analysis in Article IV surveillance: - Status: IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, MCM, area and functional departments - Forecasting: - RES-commissioned study on WEO forecasting performance completed late 2018 (1990-2016 analysis); RES pursuing further work. - MANAGEMENT ACTION (commissioned studies): Status: OPEN; ACCOUNTABLE: RES; ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: End 2015; EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: FY2020 - Forecasting review tool introduced in October 2017 WEO cycle. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1 (policy consultation meetings to discuss forecast errors): IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE; ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, Area departments; ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: January, 2016 - Handover of country assignments: - KMU launched KE country pages and completed a survey to diagnose handover issues. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2 (guidelines for handover): IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE; ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, KMU; ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: End 2016 - Forecasting pilots and modeling challenges: - RES pilots for top-down medium-term guidance and a multi-country macro-econometric forecasting model have stalled; both labeled IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE. - MANAGEMENT ACTIONs: - RES pilot process: IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE; ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: 2015 - Multi-country macro-econometric model: IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE; ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: 2015 --- ### Institutional relationships, traction of advice, and staff diversity - Traction of past advice in Article IV staff reports: - About 85 percent of a broad sample of Article IV staff reports issued in late 2018 and early 2019 included easily identifiable discussions on the traction of past advice. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: Staff will report on the traction of past advice. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - Consultation process and OED satisfaction: - Overall, 82 percent of respondents indicated satisfaction with the consultation process. - 88 percent of respondents were satisfied with the substance of the relationship. - Continuity of Fund–member relationships and mission chief tenure: - Target: three-year average tenure for country assignments. - Since 2013 average tenure for mission chiefs has remained around 2.5 years. - As of the end of FY19: - one area department had achieved the target tenure of three years; - two other departments averaged about 2.5 years; - two had managed a little more than two years. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: Target three-year average tenure for country assignments to be monitored by HRD. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: HRD - Diversity and inclusion: - Management-level (B-level) gender benchmark achieved: 30 percent target for women reached. - Women in Economist career stream: surpassing 25 percent. - Share of URR staff at B-level: 16.5 percent, against a cumulative benchmark of 21 percent. - Women from URRs account for 5.2 percent of B-level staff compared to 24.8 percent of women from the combined total from other regions. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Implement measures to raise the share of nationals from underrepresented regions among senior staff and set targets for representation of women at senior levels. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: HRD (with others) - Research and openness: - MIP responses to Research IEO recommendations: actions implemented to support research quality and openness; statement of workplace values published to encourage contrarian views. - MANAGEMENT ACTION to ensure quality of working papers: IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE. --- ### Cross-country knowledge initiatives, FSAPs, and financial surveillance - Cross-country knowledge initiatives: - 2018 ISR found initiatives yet to materialize in significant changes relative to 2014 TSR. - SPR created a tool presenting qualitative snapshots of policy advice and balance sheet positions for all member countries. - MANAGEMENT ACTIONs include expectations to share major policy questions one week ahead of missions and enhance use of cross-country examples; several tagged IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE. - FSAPs and financial sector integration: - Participation in ICD training events on financial issues increased: - Structured Curriculum (SC) events in finance: 122 in FY2019 compared to 103 in the previous year. - Non-SC events on financial issues: 371 in FY2019 compared to 265 in the previous year. - Growth-at-Risk framework promoted and a user-friendly tool developed by MCM in collaboration with ITD. - MANAGEMENT ACTIONs to strengthen coverage of financial issues in Article IVs and to intensify cross-country lessons from FSAPs noted, with implementation challenges in some areas. - Internal review, linkages, and spillovers: - The 2018 ISR concluded significant progress in analytical tools and coverage of global risks and inward spillovers in Article IV consultations; outward spillovers not consistently covered. - Work on spillovers expected to figure prominently in the 2020 CSR. - MANAGEMENT ACTIONs to broaden professional diversity and better analyze linkages and spillovers remain IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE in places. ### Governance and Board decision - Proposed Decision: The Board reviewed the implementation status of Management Actions in Response to Board-Endorsed IEO Recommendations and endorsed the assessment of their implementation progress as proposed in the Tenth Periodic Monitoring Report (PMR). *Source: Office of Internal Audit (OIA), Tenth Periodic Monitoring Report — EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (December 13, 2019); excerpts from TENTH PERIODIC MONITORING REPORT (IMF) — paragraphs and sections as provided in the source content.* ### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ### Overview - Report: Tenth Periodic Monitoring Report (PMR) on the Status of Management Implementation Plans (MIPs) in Response to Board-Endorsed Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) Recommendations. - Coverage: Progress made over the last year on actions contained in 10 MIPs with open management actions. - Preparation and approval dates: - Report date shown: December 13, 2019. - OIA assumed responsibility for preparing the PMR from SPR in February 2014. ### Key implementation statistics - Total actions assessed in this PMR: 62. - Actions implemented during the past year: 16. - Of these 16 implemented actions, 12 are related to MIPs approved after 2015 and 4 are from older MIPs. - Actions remaining open: 46. - Of the 46 open actions, 24 face implementation challenges and are mostly from older MIPs. - Original total actions across the ten MIPs: 115. - Of these 115 original actions, 69 actions have been implemented to date and 46 remain open. - Ninth PMR comparison: - Ninth PMR originally covered 96 actions in nine MIPs, of which 42 actions remained open. - Eighth PMR comparison: - Eight MIPs in the Eighth PMR originally contained 77 actions, of which 34 remained open at that time. ### Process and follow-up developments - Follow-up process improvements approved by the Executive Board in October 2015 continue to contribute to relatively speedier implementation of newer actions. - A triage framework (five categories) was developed by OIA to address open management actions; the EVC discussed the triage framework in January 2019 and recommended it for Executive Board approval in March 2019 on a lapse of time basis. - SPR prepared a “categorization paper” in consultation with OIA and accountable departments; it implements the triage framework and contains proposals for remediating and/or reprioritizing actions facing implementation challenges. - The categorization exercise contains 24 actions identified in this PMR as facing implementation challenges. - OIA’s assessment: where applicable, expected completion dates are indicated based on current progress; many actions in recent MIPs that remain open continue to make significant progress towards full implementation. ### Methodology and evidence base - To prepare the Tenth PMR, OIA met with senior staff from the IEO, SPR, and all departments accountable for implementing management actions. - The report relies on staff reports to the Executive Board and management, and information obtained in meetings with senior staff. - Given the qualitative nature of many management actions, assessment of implementation involves a degree of judgment. ### Presentation elements included in the PMR - Figures referenced in the PMR: - Figure 1. High Level View of the Evaluation and Follow-up Process. - Figure 2. Status of Management Actions. - Figure 3. Management Actions Contained in Successive PMRs. - Glossary of acronyms provided (selected examples include: FCS, IEO, MIPs, OIA, PMR, SPR, IMFC, AFR, FAD, HRD, ICD, MCD, MCM, WEO). --- ### Implementation status highlights by theme (summary) - Faster implementation pace observed for actions in newer MIPs compared with older MIPs. - Strong progress reported on actions in response to: - The IMF and Social Protection (2017). - The IMF and Fragile States (2018). - The MIP for Behind the Scenes with Data at the IMF (2016) is making good progress toward many actions due in the future, despite some challenges. - A number of actions are delayed beyond their original target implementation dates but continue to make progress. ### Executive oversight and recommendations for Board consideration - SPR’s categorization paper and its proposals for the 24 actions facing implementation challenges are presented to the Executive Board jointly with this Tenth PMR for Board consideration. - Management and staff are reviewing actions with implementation challenges, with the objective of proposing appropriate interventions for Executive Board consideration, focusing on high-priority actions. --- ### A. The IMF and Fragile States (2018) — Summary of progress and selected management actions - Evaluation findings (IEO): IMF has made important contributions in fragile states (restore macroeconomic stability, build core macroeconomic policy institutions, catalyze donor support), but the IMF’s approach to fragile states seemed conflicted and outcomes fell short of potential. The evaluation identified scope for: - A strong public signal of commitment to fragile states. - Institutional mechanisms to promote and coordinate work internally and externally. - Individual country strategies integrating policy advice, financial support, and capacity building. - Improvements in financing instruments and delivery of capacity development support. - Strengthening IMF teams working on fragile states and pragmatic ways to increase IMF presence on the ground while minimizing staff risk exposure. - MIP in response: 12 actions envisaged across six recommendations; five actions have been implemented; the remainder face no obvious challenges and are expected to be implemented in reasonable time. Selected management actions and status: - IEO Recommendation: Issue a statement on the importance of the Fund’s work on countries in fragile and conflict situations that could be endorsed by the IMFC. - MANAGEMENT ACTION: Issue a management statement on the importance of the Fund’s work on countries in fragile and conflict situations for the approval of the Board and consideration by the IMFC in October 2018. - STATUS: IMPLEMENTED. - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR and SEC. - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: October 2018. - Note: A statement by the Managing Director, approved by the Executive Board and subsequently endorsed by the IMFC, was issued on October 4, 2018. The IMFC communique of October 13, 2018 endorsed the Managing Director’s statement and called for full and timely implementation of management’s plan. - IEO Recommendation: Establish an effective institutional mechanism to better coordinate the work by the Fund and other stakeholders. - MIP envisaged three actions. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: Establish a high-level committee that will report twice a year in a formal meeting with management to seek management guidance to the action plan. - STATUS: OPEN. - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR (with other departments). - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: October 2018. - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-FY2020. - Progress: A High-Level Interdepartmental Committee on Fund Engagement in FCS was established in late 2018 and has met on two occasions. The Committee is chaired by the Director of SPR and comprises the Directors of AFR, FAD, HRD, ICD, MCD, and MCM, with other departments invited as warranted. Immediate strategic priorities identified: (i) addressing HR issues, including staffing levels; (ii) improving communications (within the Fund, with other agencies, and with the wider public); and (iii) promoting strategic engagement at the country level. The Committee had not yet met with Management but expected to do so shortly to seek guidance on additional strategic priorities for FY2020. - Board briefing and updates: - On November 11, 2019, staff provided the Executive Board with an Update on Implementation of Measures to Strengthen Fund Engagement in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States. The informal briefing covered: - Intensified program and surveillance engagement. - Adapting the toolkit for financial support. - Integration of surveillance, capacity development and financial support. - Remaining challenges: rolling out impactful country engagement strategies; better tailoring program engagement to country capacity; and strategic workforce and career planning. --- *Source: Office of Internal Audit (OIA), Tenth Periodic Monitoring Report — EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (December 13, 2019).* ### 14. Following the informal briefing to the Board, staff are planning to prepare a formal ### 14–25: Progress on IEO Recommendations — Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (FCS) and Social Protection ### Review of FCS Engagement — formal review and country engagement strategies - Finding: Staff plan to prepare a formal paper on the Review of FCS Engagement by the end of 2020. No obstacles are anticipated at this stage. - IEO recommendation summarized: Develop forward looking, holistic country strategies integrating policy advice, financial support, and capacity building as part of the Article IV surveillance process. - Directors’ guidance: Requirements for such strategies need to be flexible and adaptive, should not overburden the Article IV process. - Management actions and status: - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Staff to provide an informal briefing on implementing this MIP. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR (with other departments) - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: End-2019 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3: Staff will prepare a Board paper on Review of FCS Engagement. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR (with other departments) - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: End-2020 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - MANAGEMENT ACTION: Area department FCS country teams to prepare as part of staff reports for Art. IV and new program requests a succinct country engagement strategy that discusses country fragility, surveillance and CD priorities, and, if applicable, the complementary role for Fund financial support. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: Area Departments (monitored by SPR) - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Starting from Q1 2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - Implementation support: - A provisional guidance note for preparation of country engagement strategies was deployed in early 2019. - Staff plan to update and finalize the guidance note for implementation across all FCS country teams preparing staff reports for Article IV consultations and for new program requests. - Expected finalization: by the end of 2020. ### Lending toolkit adaptations for FCS - IEO recommendation summarized: Adapt the Fund’s lending toolkit to deliver more sustained financial support to fragile states and to respond proactively to windows for clearance of external arrears and restoration of access. - Directors’ guidance: Further consideration of modifications to the Fund’s lending toolkit in context of the 2018 Review of Facilities for Low Income Countries (LICs), including raising access limits for RFI/RCF and introducing shorter upper credit tranche arrangements. - Reform outcomes (2018-19 Review of Facilities for Low-Income Countries—Reform Proposals, approved May 2019): - (i) Generalized access increase of one-third to concessional financing, favoring poorest LICs. - For FCS specifically: - (i) In addition to the generalized access increase of one-third, doubling the annual RCF limit under the regular window. - (ii) Increasing the annual and cumulative access limits for the RFI, in line with the generalized access increase for all concessional facilities. - (iii) For countries facing substantial near-term uncertainties, making full use of the flexibility allowed under the ECF to focus attention on near-term targets fleshed out on an annual basis as the arrangements unfold. - Management action and status: - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: A staff paper on adapting the lending toolkit to support FCS (following options presented at the Review of Fund Facilities for LICs, July 20, 2018) will consider formal proposals. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, LEG, and FIN - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Q1 2019 ### Overdue financial obligations (Somalia and Sudan) - Finding: Review for Somalia completed and discussed by the Executive Board in July 2019 alongside the 2019 Article IV Consultation and request for new staff-monitored program. Directors supported progress toward HIPC Decision Point and recognized need to mobilize financing for debt relief including Fund costs. - Finding: Review for Sudan delayed and postponed three times until June 15, 2020 due to internal country issues. Next review expected to be discussed with Sudan’s 2019 Article IV consultation, scheduled in the first quarter of 2020. - Management action and status: - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Report [to the Executive Board] efforts to mobilize broad creditor support for FCS with external arrears to official creditors, including arrears to the Fund, in the context of the upcoming reviews of overdue financial obligations for Sudan and Somalia. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: FIN and SPR - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: March 2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: 2020 ### Capacity development (CD) for FCS - IEO recommendation summarized: Strengthen impact of Fund’s CD support to fragile and conflict situations (use on-the-ground experts, realistic impact assessment tools, ensure adequate financial resources, explore multi-donor trust fund). - Findings and actions: - The Review of the Fund’s CD Strategy discussed by Executive Board in November 2018; Directors broadly supported conclusions. Strategy aims to increase impact by strengthening integration with surveillance and lending, country-tailored delivery focused on implementation, clearer responsibilities, better prioritization and monitoring, and enhanced external coordination and dissemination. - Staff continue to explore options for increased CD in FCS, including possibility of a dedicated trust fund or coordinated bilateral projects. Proposals under discussion. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Report to Management on FCS staffing gaps, notably for staff assigned from functional departments in program and near-program countries. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: FAD, SPR, and OBP - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: October 2018 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1 (CD): CD Strategy Review (for Board consideration) will include a focus on FCS. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: ICD - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: November 2018 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2 (MDTF case): Report to management on the case for a dedicated Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) or a coordinated set of bilateral projects for FCS to target CD gaps. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: ICD (with other departments) - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: September 2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - MCM and STA staff papers: Prepare two staff papers on lessons from building financial and statistical capacity in FCS for Board discussions by end-2020. - MCM paper: Building Capacity in Monetary and Financial Policies in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States expected to be sent to the Board in March 2020. - STA paper expected to follow shortly after. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3: - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: MCM and STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: December 2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 ### Staffing, incentives, and field presence in FCS - IEO recommendation summarized: Incentivize high quality and experienced staff to work on FCS, allocate adequate resources, and pragmatically increase field presence with appropriate security arrangements. - Directors’ guidance: HR strategy review should consider stronger recognition for staff working on FCS to reduce turnover and attract experienced staff; recruitment practices to be considered; field presence increases must weigh staff safety. - Actions and status: - A formal HR policy position on incentivizing staff to work on FCS countries expected to be announced by end-2019 as part of HR strategy review. - A panel discussion in June 2019 (headlined by the FDMD) explored options to strengthen Fund engagement with FCS, integrate FCS work into economists’ careers, and improve interaction with authorities and citizens in FCS. - HRD expected to launch an enhanced career mobility framework along with a career playbook for all job families by FY20 Q3, incorporating FCS-related incentives. - High-Level Interdepartmental Committee on Fund Engagement in FCS submitted to Management in May 2019 a report on FCS staffing issues; findings being taken up in HR strategy review. - FAD reallocated six fiscal economists in FY20 from non-fragile to fragile states. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1 (HR strategy): The HR Strategy Review will look into strategic workforce and career planning, including recruitment, and will consider actions to ensure the Fund has appropriate staff expertise and experience to work effectively in fragile states, including the introduction of a “career” playbook to incentivize staff to work on FCS. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: HRD - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Progress assessed at end-2020 in the review of FCS engagement - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 ### Social protection: strategy, guidance, training, and advisory support - IEO evaluation summary: IMF attention to social protection has increased but engagement varied across countries; recommended a strategic framework, tailored policy advice, more effective program design and conditionality, stronger collaboration with partners, and enhanced external communications. - Progress summary: In response to five recommendations, the MIP envisaged eight actions; four implemented, remaining expected to be completed in reasonable time. - Strategy and guidance: - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: Staff will prepare a paper on a strategic framework on social protection issues for the Board’s consideration. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: FAD, SPR and COM - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: February 2019 - Executive Board discussed A Strategy for IMF Engagement on Social Spending in May 2019 and broadly endorsed it. - Strategy highlights: engagement guided by assessment of macro-criticality of social spending issues, program context, and in-house expertise; improved collaboration with development institutions; strengthened program design and conditionality; advice on targeted and universal transfers tailored to countries’ preferences and constraints; external communications. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Staff will issue a follow-up guidance note to support the strategic framework for social protection. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: FAD and SPR - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: End-2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - Staff preparatory work: sectoral background notes on pensions, social assistance, health, and education to serve as inputs to the guidance note and additional in-house resources for country teams. - FAD and SPR plan area department road shows to explain implications, collect feedback for guidance note. - Guidance note expected to explain consistent application of key concepts including macro-criticality of social spending and highlight existing support tools and potential initiatives for strengthening support. - Advisory group and training: - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3: An advisory group will be formed after issuance of the guidance note to provide support to country teams in operationalizing work on social protection. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: FAD - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: After issuance of the guidance note in 2020 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - MANAGEMENT ACTION (training): Staff will receive training [on social protection issues] if needed. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: FAD, ICD - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: After issuance of the guidance note in 2020 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - ICD and FAD plan to launch an internal training course on social spending in the Spring of 2020. Training of SPR and FAD reviewers on issues associated with the strategy has already started. _Italicized source: Excerpts from TENTH PERIODIC MONITORING REPORT (IMF) — pages covering paragraphs 14–25._ ### 27. Staff issued the Guidance Note on IMF engagement on Social Safeguards in Low- ### 27. Staff issued the Guidance Note on IMF engagement on Social Safeguards in Low-Income Countries ### Guidance Note on Social Safeguards (June 2018) - The Guidance Note provides operational guidance to staff on how to engage on social safeguard issues with low-income countries in both program and surveillance contexts. - Programs are expected to enhance education and health spending whenever possible and include measures to strengthen social safety nets, recognizing that it takes time to design and implement such reforms. - Program design and conditionality on social safeguards should follow two general principles: - flexibility in accommodating country-specific circumstances and national priorities; and - clarity in the discussion of how program conditionality helps achieve the desired social safeguard goal. ### 2018 Review of Program Design and Conditionality (endorsed May 2019) - Scope and period: examined program performance between September 2011 and end-2017. - Key findings: - social expenditure was generally protected in Fund-supported programs; - About 90 percent of the PRGT programs and 20 percent of the GRA programs included conditionality on social spending; - Performance against indicative targets on social spending was broadly satisfactory and comparable to other types of indicative targets, with about 70 percent met across the PRGT and GRA; - For PRGT countries, social assistance, health, and education spending grew in real terms, on average, even under fiscal consolidation programs; - There was limited focus on the quality of social spending. - Directors' conclusions: - broadly agreed with the findings of the review; - supported focusing on the quality of social spending and prioritizing structural conditions on social issues, where relevant. ### Management Actions and Accountability (Social Safeguards) - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: - Action: Staff will issue a guidance note on strengthening social safeguards measures in low-income country programs. - Note: [This is in addition to the Strategy for IMF Engagement on Social Spending and related guidance note] - Status: IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: First half of 2018 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: - Action: The 2018 Review of Conditionality will assess effectiveness of Fund conditionality on social protection. - Note: [This is in addition to the Strategy for IMF Engagement on Social Spending and related guidance note] - Status: IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: November 2018 ### External Communications and Strategy on Social Spending - IEO Recommendation: Realistically explain the Fund’s approach to social protection issues in external communications. - Directors supported the recommendation and noted clarity would help sharpen external communications and avoid reputational risks. - Implementation progress: - COM has started to implement the communication strategy on the Fund’s approach to social spending. - Public launch: Strategy for IMF Engagement on Social Spending in June 2019 with a speech by the Managing Director in Geneva. - The communications strategy calls for: - a clear explanation of the Fund’s approach within a specific country context; - setting realistic expectations about what the Fund can and cannot do given its mandate, resources, and expertise; - closer attention to country cases where social spending is considered macro-critical, with a communications plan developed by the country team in collaboration with COM. - COM actions: - reallocated some resources towards work on social spending; all the department’s work in this area is now coordinated at the immediate office; - will seek to ensure the communications strategy is implemented for all countries where social spending is macro-critical and that staff reports pay due attention to social spending issues when relevant. - MANAGEMENT ACTION (Communications): - Action: More staff resources will be allocated to enhance external communications in this area. Appropriate communications products will be developed with departments. - Note: [This is in addition to the Strategy for IMF Engagement on Social Spending] - Status: OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: COM - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 ### Inter-institutional Cooperation and SPIAC-B Participation - IEO Recommendation: Engage actively in inter-institutional cooperation on social protection to work constructively with development partners. - Directors strongly supported active engagement and collaboration, including with the World Bank and other IFIs. - Progress: - IMF staff have been attending, at a senior level, relevant Social Protection Inter-Agency Collaboration Board (SPIAC-B) meetings since early 2018. - SPIAC-B: co-chaired by ILO and the World Bank; composed of representatives of international organizations and bilateral institutions to enhance global coordination and advocacy on social protection. - Fund participation: active senior staff participation began early 2018, including a presentation on the Fund’s work on social protection issues; staff envisage continued active participation as part of strengthened dialogue and collaboration, including with the ILO. - MANAGEMENT ACTION (SPIAC-B): - Action: IMF senior-level staff will attend SPIAC-B meetings when the issue under discussion is relevant to Fund’s work. - Note: [This is in addition to the Strategy for IMF Engagement on Social Spending] - Status: IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: FAD, SPR and COM - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated ### Data, Standards, and Surveillance — sequencing and reviews - Context: Responses to IEO evaluations on data highlighted need for a long-term overarching data strategy and prioritization of data needs. - Sequencing of reviews: - The Review of Data Provision to the Fund for Surveillance Purposes (DPF) sequencing has been modified to follow the Comprehensive Surveillance Review (CSR) to ensure evolving data and statistical needs for bilateral and multilateral surveillance are properly identified and addressed. - Under Board-approved schedule, the Review of DPF is expected to be performed every five years or more, as needed; CSR is performed every five years. - Staff are working on the 2020 CSR, which will help identify new data needs; the next Review of DPF will follow shortly after the CSR and is expected to ensure consistency of new data needs with data required for surveillance. - The Tenth Review of the IMF’s Data Standards Initiative (DSI) would subsequently seek to operationalize outcomes of the DPF Review. - Issues to be addressed in the Review of DPF: - proposals to address outdated data categories among mandatory series; - updating the list of data required for surveillance; - enhancing timely provision of data; - conducting a more transparent and structured assessment of data adequacy for surveillance purposes. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1 (DPF/CSR sequencing): - Action: Comprehensive Surveillance Reviews (CSR) and their interim reports will continue to guide priorities regarding the Fund’s evolving data and statistical needs for bilateral and multilateral surveillance activities. These priorities will be operationalized in Reviews of Data Provision to the Fund for Surveillance Purposes (DPF). - Status: OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: December 2017 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 ### Tenth Review of Data Standards Initiative (DSI) and merging frameworks - Planned actions: - The Tenth Review of the IMF’s Data Standards Initiatives is to follow shortly after the Review of DPF in 2020. - The DPF review will consider aligning timeliness and periodicity understandings with publication expectations under the voluntary data dissemination standards (e-GDDS/SDDS/SDDS Plus). - The Tenth Review will make proposals for merging the frameworks of SDDS, SDDS Plus, and the enhanced e-GDDS, involving integration of a cloud-based network of member countries’ websites publishing data essential for surveillance on a pre-announced schedule. - Staff expect implementation of merging proposals to take several years. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2 (aligning data provision with publication): - Action: The Tenth Review of the IMF’s Data Standards Initiatives will seek to further align data provision by member countries – to the extent feasible – with the broader initiative to promote publication of data required for surveillance by the Fund. - Status: OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: FY2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2021 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3 (merging frameworks and new technologies): - Action: The Tenth Review of the IMF’s Data Standards Initiatives will seek to merge the frameworks of the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), SDDS Plus, and the enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS), including new technologies for data provision, such as open data, to improve country provision of relevant, timely and quality data to Fund economists. - Status: OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: FY2020 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2021 ### Standards, Codes, and Data Adequacy for Surveillance - The 2017 Review of the Standards and Codes Initiative aimed to strengthen integration with Fund surveillance and CD activities. - STA is introducing a New Assessment of Data Adequacy for Surveillance with objectives to: - introduce more structure and transparency by requiring teams to specify factors behind their views on the degree to which data deficiencies and gaps might hinder the reliability of analyses underlying policy advice; - strengthen integration of standards and codes work with CD to support better data for policymaking. - Pilot exercise: - STA, supported by SPR and LEG, is launching an exercise involving 20 pilot cases to test a draft questionnaire to guide the assessment of data adequacy in the pilot countries, including those where data has serious shortcomings that significantly hamper surveillance. - Operational details for full roll-out of the New Assessment of Data Adequacy for Surveillance are expected to be formalized in the DPF Review and subsequent guidance note. - IEO Recommendation: Reconsider the role and mandate of the Statistics department. - Directors supported the recommendation and noted STA is devoting more attention to the provision of services to the Fund and encouraged continued progress and closer collaboration with area departments. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 4 (ROSC/data quality integration): - Action: The review of the Standards and Codes Initiative will aim to strengthen its integration with Fund surveillance and CD activities. The new data quality module in the revised Data Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) will help guide future CD and methodological work with member countries to facilitate data provisioning to the Fund. - Note: [A revised DPF Guidance Note, following the 2020 Review of the DPF, will operationalize the New Assessment of Data Adequacy for Surveillance.] - Status: OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: FY2018 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2021 *Source: ppea2020012 - 27. Staff issued the Guidance Note on IMF engagement on Social Safeguards in Low-Income Countries (excerpt).* ### 36. STA is currently operating fully under its new role and mandate, as part of an ### 36. STA is currently operating fully under its new role and mandate, as part of an ### Governance, mandate, and organizational change - STA operating under a new role and mandate within an overarching strategy on data and statistics approved by management in January 2018 and supported by the Executive Board in March 2018. - New governance framework for data and statistics includes a Standing Committee chaired by management, with STA serving as secretariat, and integration of the Economic Data Team (EDT) within STA. - Director of STA appointed as Chief Statistician and Data Officer responsible for implementation of the overarching strategy. - Departmental reorganization and reconfiguration of STA’s skill mix largely completed; governance framework consolidated; implementation moving forward. - STA has briefed the Executive Board several times on aspects of strategy implementation. ### Publications, databases, and data sharing - January 2019: STA completed a review of publications and databases and phased out all print publications to go digital, including the International Financial Statistics (IFS). - Outcomes of digital shift: modernized data publication, promoted mobile presence, enabled operational efficiencies. - STA streamlined databases and introduced measures to improve data sharing. - Harmonized collection forms; removed nearly 1,000 country-specific indicators from the IFS. - Expanded data sharing: much national accounts data for EU countries now sourced from Eurostat; production and labor market data from the OECD; plans to expand data sharing with the BIS beyond interest rate data. - Begun ingesting data machine-to-machine via SDDS plus and e-GDDS National Summary Data Pages (NSDPs) to reduce reporting burdens. - Planned Global Data Commons expected eventually to replace direct country data reporting by pulling data from NSDPs. ### Management actions implemented and open (selected) - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: Revisit the role and mandate of STA to ensure alignment with Fund core operations. Decision on whether to move the new data management structure into STA to be taken in context of long-term strategy. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: September, 2017 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Review data publications, databases, and data sharing within the membership and among international agencies. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: To be determined - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3: STA to engage in more pro-active, structured consultation with area departments on methodological work to support surveillance priorities for LICs; issue revised Statistics Manuals (medium-term). - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: To be determined - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2022 ### Methodological support and focus on low-income countries (LICs) - STA’s revised mandate integrates statistical support for Fund operations (surveillance, use of fund resources, CD) and traditional role vis-à-vis membership and global statistics community. - Planned major revision of the Statistics Manuals (medium-term) to provide methodological guidance for national accounts and balance of payments, including specific considerations for LICs. - Near-term: developing Quick Reference Notes on GFS matters and more user-friendly access for area department economists to methodological advice. - Operational changes to support area departments: - New Assessment of Data Adequacy for Surveillance aims to identify and focus on shortcomings that significantly hamper surveillance—mainly low-income countries. - STA nominated country coordinators for all countries with major data weaknesses and gaps to assist country teams in updating Statistical Information Annexes, coordinating statistics scorecards, and facilitating requests for statistical advice. - STASR coordinates STA contributions to interdepartmental review of country papers, differentiating by severity and criticality of data issues. - STA continues to prioritize methodological work on GDP rebasing and participation in missions for Article IV, UFR, FSAPs, FSSRs, and FTEs. - 2019 IMF Statistical Forum (November 14-15, 2019) focused on Measuring the Informal Economy. ### Capacity development (CD), trust funds, and outreach - On average, 750 TA missions fielded by STA over the past eight years addressing data gaps and quality concerns. - CD activities on data gaps, data quality, and dissemination ramped up recently, partly supported by two multi-partner trust funds: Financial Sector Stability Fund (FSSF) and Data for Decisions Fund (D4D). - Trust funds close to fully funded, allowing implementation of a steady-state work program. - FSSF statistics workstreams on track to meet objectives of quasi-universal coverage of low- and lower-middle-income countries in reporting FSIs or undertaking partial or full balance sheet analysis (BSA) by the end of FY2022. - Work under all modules and submodules of the D4D Fund is moving ahead. - Number of countries publishing key economic data under the Data Standards Initiatives (e-GDDS, SDDS, SDDS Plus) continues to increase. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 4: Align CD activities with Fund and membership needs; gear CD toward closing data gaps hampering surveillance, improving data quality, and broadening dissemination. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 5: Devote greater attention to CD in fragile states and vulnerable program countries and foster integration with surveillance. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: To be determined - STA CD delivered to fragile states increased from 24 percent in FY16 to 31 percent in FY19. - TA missions account for 85 percent of STA’s CD. - First online learning course under the D4D launched in September 2019. - New TA guidelines effective in FY2019 to enhance buy-in by senior policy-makers. - All STA CD activities now captured in the Fund’s Results-Based Management (RBM) framework. ### Data governance, management standards, and metadata - Data Governance Group (DGG) established mid-2018 with oversight role; embarked on program to develop data management standards and guidance. - Area departments prepared draft individual data management guidelines in 2017; unifying these guidelines is a multi-year objective with first round of discussions expected in FY2020 under the DGG. - Development of Fund-wide data management standards is long-term; STA defining clear and measurable milestones; DGG to review, endorse, and prioritize. - Building blocks include consistent series descriptors and common metadata fields across databases. - Metadata cleanup progress: - First cleanup completed in 2018, focusing on economic variables in staff reports. - Further work on a priority list of series expected to be finalized in 2019. - Comprehensive cleanup is a long-term effort; STA defining clear and measurable milestones. - Catalogue of Time Series (CTS) update: - “CTS 3.0” cleanup launched May 2017 by STA and RES. - Updates of the real, external, and financial sectors completed. - Fiscal sector update envisaged to be finalized by end-FY2020. - Comprehensive update not expected to be completed until end-2023, with an updated “CTS 4.0.” - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Adopt Fund-wide data management standards. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: 2017 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3: Undertake metadata cleanup. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: STA, area departments - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated - MANAGEMENT ACTION 4: Update the Catalogue of Time Series (CTS). - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated - MANAGEMENT ACTION 5: Incentivize use of the Common Surveillance Databases. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: STA, RES - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated ### Common Surveillance Database (CSD) use and data access - CSD integrated into area department workflows; submissions occur at WEO and Vulnerability Exercises and when staff reports submitted to the Board. - Five cross-country exercises (CPA, SSBIG, EBA, MONA, Quota) now source data from the CSD. - CSD used to check CTS codes and DMX feature usage in related modernization projects. - Area departments request that data requests flow through the CSD to reduce burden on country teams. - Improved metadata management and consistent coding have increased CSD usability. - Challenges remain with data access due to existing IT infrastructure. - ITD’s Economic Data Interface project should reduce some data access challenges; iData expected to provide ultimate solution through a next-generation economic data lifecycle management platform. - DGG requested RES to provide periodic reports on CSD usage, to be based on clear and measurable milestones to be developed. ### Article IV reporting, statistical issues appendix (SIA), and data clarity in Fund publications - Staff expect to propose revisions to the statistical issues appendix (SIA) in Article IV staff reports in the context of the next Review of DPF, expected sometime in 2020. - IEO recommendation: clarify limits of IMF responsibility regarding quality of disseminated data and distinction between “IMF data” and “official data.” Directors supported clarifying distinction between “IMF data” used for Fund surveillance and “official data” provided by authorities that are not vetted by the Fund. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 6: Next Review of Data Provision to the Fund for Surveillance Purposes (DPF) to propose incorporation of results of new assessments of data adequacy for surveillance (revised ROSC) into a revised SIA and review requirement to discuss the SIA in the main body of Article IV staff report. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, STA - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: FY 2019 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2021 - A draft plan for clarifying data in Fund publications pending review and operationalization in the Review of DPF: - (i) Data sources should be systematically included in metadata fields of CSD and flagship multilateral databases, with monitoring by the DGG in FY2020. - (ii) The DPF Guidance Note—revised following the Review of DPF scheduled for 2020—should clarify staff expectations regarding sources of data and estimates. - (iii) Departments authoring multilateral flagships should continue to monitor data used in multilateral surveillance products to ensure proper distinction between official sources and staff estimates. - Actions taken: disclaimer added to the DSBB clarifying the Fund does not endorse data on the DSBB; Guidance Note on Third-party Indicators (TPIs) endorsed by the Board in July 2018 to clarify principles for TPI use. ### Self-evaluation at the IMF (IEO assessment) — summary - IEO report on Self-Evaluation at the IMF (2015) found many self-evaluation activities and reports were high quality but overall approach ad hoc; identified gaps in coverage, weaknesses in quality, and shortcomings in distilling and disseminating lessons. - IEO recommended IMF adopt an overall policy for self-evaluation setting goals, scope, key outputs, expected utilization, and follow-up. - Management action: develop a plan to clarify distinction between “official statistics” and data used by area and functional departments in surveillance activities; revise DPF Guidance Note following 2020 Review to clarify staff expectations about sources of data and estimates. - OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: STA, ITD - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: September 2017 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2021 - Summary of progress: In response to four recommendations in the IEO evaluation, the MIP envisaged nine actions, of which two remained open after the 9th PMR; since then, one action previously facing challenges has been implemented and the remaining action is delayed due to other work priorities but not facing other obvious challenges. - IEO Recommendation: Develop products and activities aimed at distilling and disseminating evaluative findings and lessons for staff learning. Directors supported this recommendation. The MIP envisaged four actions, two of which remained open after the Ninth PMR. *Source: TENTH PERIODIC MONITORING REPORT — excerpts on STA roles, data strategy, and implementation actions.* ### 48. Implementation of the Fund’s knowledge management plan is well underway. At ### 48. Implementation of the Fund’s knowledge management plan is well underway. At ### Knowledge Management (KM) implementation and KMU - Permanent Knowledge Management structure established to implement a strategy to make Fund knowledge more easily accessible to staff and member countries. - Timeline and milestones: - Small Group on Knowledge Management report delivered July 2016. - Knowledge Management Unit (KMU) established December 2016; started to operate in full in mid-2017. - KMU updated the Executive Board on KM strategy implementation at an informal meeting in May 2019. - KMU activities and projects: - Content availability improvements and taxonomy improvements. - New document management, autocategorization, enterprise search, and knowledge exchange tools (part of major modernization capital projects). - KMU operates under strategic guidance of an interdepartmental advisory committee and receives annual Board feedback. - Knowledge Exchange (KE) country pages: - Launched December 2018 and available for all member countries. - Pages include: basic information on the country relationship with the Fund; country security level; country team members; mission documents for surveillance, lending, and TA activities going back a few years; links to country pages of similar countries; news on the country, including Fund press releases and Fund staff speeches. - KMU diagnostics and next steps: - Completed a new survey of desk economists and mission chiefs to identify handover “pain-points”. - Plans to formulate and pilot improvements to the desk handover process to inform possible revisions to the overall approach for handover of country assignments. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: - Develop a plan to enhance knowledge management. Expected actions include: - (i) produce concrete plans to make available high-quality, web-based information on critical topics for Fund staff; - (ii) enhance internal information classification and retrieval tools; - (iii) provide recommendations on the respective responsibilities of area, functional, and other departments, as well as each staff member, in strengthening KM; - (iv) propose a permanent KM structure. - Status: IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: KMU - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated ### Capacity development (CD) evaluation framework - New Common Evaluation Framework (CEF) for IMF CD introduced July 2016. - Operational guidance note delayed due to other work priorities; staff preparing operational guidance note to facilitate implementation. - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: End-2020 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: - Develop a common evaluation framework, including self-evaluation, for IMF CD. - Status: OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: ICD - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated ### Macrofinancial integration and financial surveillance - Macrofinancial initiative launched 2015 with ramp-up in training and knowledge-sharing, including a specialized curriculum and dedicated macrofinancial teams. - Reported outcomes and coverage: - 2018 ISR reported macrofinancial analysis better integrated into bilateral surveillance. - Over 70 percent of Board members characterized the quality of staff’s advice and analysis of macrofinancial issues as having improved to some extent. - Macrofinancial integration has continued to expand across countries and now covers all members. - Ongoing quality and coverage issues: - Unevenness in quality and coverage of financial issues in Article IV staff reports (early pilot countries higher quality than recently included countries). - Macrofinancial analysis better integrated into risk and policy discussions than baseline discussions. - Measures to sustain integration: - MCM and SPR working with area departments to keep macrofinancial integration in focus, including use of the Growth-at-Risk concept, more structured review of systemic risks in country papers, and regular “office hours” for informal discussions with MCM staff. - IEO January 2019 evaluation: - Recognized important progress but noted mainstreaming of macrofinancial analysis into Article IV surveillance remains work in progress and recommended better integrating FSAP analysis into Article IV consultations. - MANAGEMENT ACTION: - Introduce measures to fully embed macrofinancial analysis in Article IV surveillance, including through Balance Sheet Analysis (BSA) and promoting uptake of user-friendly tools. - Status: IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, MCM, area and functional departments - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated ### Forecasting: process, quality, and learning from errors - IEO findings: - IMF forecasts have no significant biases in general, but tendency for significant over-predictions of GDP growth in the WEO during regional or global recessions and during crises in individual countries. - Short-term forecast processes and methods considered well structured and tailored; some country officials saw forecasting process as lacking transparency. - Forecasts in IMF-supported programs were unbiased in majority of cases but tend to be optimistic in high-profile cases with exceptional access. - Recommendations: promote learning from past forecast performance; provide guidance to desk economists; enhance transparency by describing forecasting process. - MIP response: - In response to five recommendations, MIP envisaged 11 actions, of which five remained open after the 9th PMR; one action makes gradual progress, four face implementation challenges. - External and in-house studies: - RES-commissioned study on WEO forecasting performance completed late 2018 analyzing 1990-2016 WEO forecasts of GDP growth and inflation; compared to Consensus Economics and simple time-series models. - RES pursuing further work focused on post-2004 period, sources of errors, and plans to publish a working paper simultaneously with external study in the coming months. - MANAGEMENT ACTION: - Commissioned studies will be undertaken on a regular schedule, every 5-8 years, starting in 2015. - Status: OPEN - ACCOUNTABLE: RES - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: End 2015 - EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE: FY2020 - Policy consultation and forecast error review tools: - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: - Policy consultation meetings for Article IV consultations and program reviews will discuss the underlying causes of significant forecast errors (not pertaining to data revisions) for key macroeconomic variables. - Status: IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, Area departments - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: January, 2016 - Tools and process developments: - Forecasting review tool developed by SPR and RES introduced in October 2017 WEO cycle and currently available for a majority of member countries. - Tool compares GDP, inflation, and external current account errors against historical and peer country errors; evaluates external sector forecasts against trading partners for multilateral consistency of bottom-up projections. - Review process examines realism of scenarios in debt sustainability analysis. - Staff exploring approaches to uncertainties and risks, possibly broadening policy consultation meetings from point forecasts to better understanding risk profiles and contingency plans for surveillance and programs. - Handover of country assignments and KMU role: - KMU tasked in 2018 to explore new approaches for maintaining and sharing country desk knowledge after initial challenges ensuring compliance with handover guidelines. - KMU launched KE country pages (December 2018) and completed a survey to diagnose handover issues; expects to pilot improvements. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: - Issue guidelines establishing minimum requirements and recommending best practices for the handover of country assignments. - Status: IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: SPR, KMU - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: End 2016 ### Forecasting pilots and modeling challenges - RES pilots and modeling: - RES started a pilot process to broaden top-down guidance for medium-term forecasts (in spirit of short-term approach) and planned a multi-country macro-econometric forecasting model to ensure medium-term consistency. - Both actions have faced significant technical difficulties and stalled: - Broadening the pilot beyond a few large economies stalled since 2016 due to unforeseen technical difficulties and simulation capability constraints. - Attempts included hiring an external consultant and linearizing the model; RES decided in 2018 further efforts could not be justified given other modelling demands. - Development of a multi-country macro-econometric forecasting model is at a more advanced stage of the same pilot process and has stalled for the same reasons. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: - RES will start a pilot process (to be broadened gradually for most major economies and country groups) with top-down guidance for medium-term forecasts. - Status: IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: RES - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: 2015 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: - Develop a multi-country macro-econometric forecasting model to ensure medium-term consistency of forecasts. - Status: IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: RES - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: 2015 ### Role of the IMF as Trusted Advisor and engagement with authorities - IEO findings: - Fund’s image improved post-crisis; perceived as more open, flexible, and responsive. - Quality of advice and staff–country authority relationships important for traction; additional efforts needed to enhance value and relevance of policy advice, continuity of relationships, and address perceived lack of evenhandedness. - MIP and survey evidence on early engagement and sharing: - Management action to expect early consultations with country authorities of all teams (steps began in 2013) faced implementation challenges. - Fourth Survey of the Offices of the Executive Directors (OEDs) on Quality of the Fund’s Engagement with the Membership (completed summer 2019) findings: - 70 percent of Executive Directors indicated that their authorities were contacted to exchange views on proposed policy issues and topics at least a month in advance of the Article IV Consultation mission (significant improvement across all area departments compared to previous year). - Nearly half of respondents indicated exchange with authorities was initiated two months in advance of the mission (improvement from previous year when all departments had favorable responses from less than half of respondents, and two departments had less than 30 percent). - 77 percent of respondents confirmed that country teams shared major policy questions a week ahead of the Article IV Consultation mission. - Two area departments reported 94 and 81 percent favorable responses on timely exchanges; the other three departments reached at least 69 percent favorable responses. - Overall OED satisfaction with engagement: - 82 percent of respondents indicated that they were satisfied with the process. - 88 percent were satisfied with the substance of the relationship. - Prior year comparisons: in 2018, 91 percent of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with country teams’ engagement; 2016 was 88 percent; 2015 was 93 percent. - Conclusion on trusted advisor role: - High levels of approval on substance and qualitative responses on frank exchanges serve as a proxy for mission chiefs’ commitment to explaining the rationale for the Fund’s policy advice to enhance traction. *International Monetary Fund — TENTH PERIODIC MONITORING REPORT (excerpts provided in the source content).* ### 61. Staff have introduced several initiatives over the years that could result in better use of Fund ### 61. Staff have introduced several initiatives over the years that could result in better use of Fund cross-country knowledge. ### Cross-country knowledge initiatives and status - The 2018 ISR found these initiatives are yet to materialize in terms of significant changes to the use of cross-country knowledge in surveillance, relative to the 2014 TSR. - SPR has created and made available to country teams a tool that presents, for all member countries: - a qualitative snapshot of current Fund policy advice; - bottom line assessment of countries’ cyclical and balance sheet positions; - countries’ policy frameworks. - Management Actions (as stated in the source): - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Mission teams will be expected to share major policy questions and global assumptions underlying projections at least one week ahead of the mission. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: Not indicated - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Steps begin in 2013 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3: Mission chiefs will be tasked to better explain the rationale for Fund policy advice. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: Not indicated - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Steps begin in 2013 - MANAGEMENT ACTION 4: Enhance the use of cross-country examples by functional department economists. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: Not indicated - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Steps begin in 2013 ### KMU: knowledge access, sharing, and tools - KMU is taking a fundamental approach to knowledge access and sharing to better leverage cross-country knowledge by: - standardizing the content profile of documents; - facilitating tagging of documents; - introducing a better document management system; - enhancing the enterprise business vocabulary; - introducing a more efficient search engine; - revamping the Knowledge Exchange portal; - developing a Fund-wide text mining platform. - KMU initiatives more directly related to leveraging cross-country experiences include: - developing—in partnership with ITD, SPR, and the iLab—an artificial-intelligence based cognitive search pilot to tap the Fund’s cross-country experience in policy advice; - developing an expertise locator tool to search for experts within the Fund; - improving TA documents accessibility. - The KMU approach fundamentally changes how the Fund shares knowledge and goes beyond the use of cross-country examples by functional department economists. ### Continuity of Fund–member relationships and mission chief tenure - IEO Recommendation: Strengthen the continuity of the relationship between the Fund and member countries. - Many Directors did not support development of medium-term strategic plans; several Directors agreed on developing incentives for staff to act as trusted advisors; some Directors emphasized lengthening staff country assignments and increasing staff diversity. - Mission chief tenure: - Target: three-year average tenure for country assignments. - Since 2013 average tenure for mission chiefs has remained unchanged at around 2.5 years, with variations across departments. - As of the end of FY19: - one area department had achieved the target tenure of three years; - two other departments averaged about 2.5 years; - two had managed a little more than two years. - Note: Target of an average of three years’ tenure is difficult to achieve without targeted mandates and incentives; tradeoffs exist with career development, promotion opportunities, staff mobility, and safety considerations for fragile states. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: Target three-year average tenure for country assignments to be monitored by HRD. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: HRD - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Steps begin in 2013 ### Diversity and inclusion progress and benchmarks - The Executive Board discussed the 2019 Diversity and Inclusion Report in December 2019 (informal briefing May 2019). - Progress: - Management-level (B-level) gender benchmark achieved: 30 percent target for women reached. - Women in Economist career stream: surpassing 25 percent. - Underrepresented Regions (URRs) at B-level: - Share of URR staff at B-level: 16.5 percent, against a cumulative benchmark of 21 percent. - Women from URRs account for 5.2 percent of B-level staff compared to 24.8 percent of women from the combined total from other regions. - Department leadership: - Currently, of the 5 area and 7 functional (economist) departments, 10 are headed by men. - In the entire history of the Fund, only 4 women, including the current Head of Research, have led these departments. - Directors welcomed progress over the last ten years but regretted lack of progress on some 2020 benchmarks, particularly for MENA+ and East Asia; they looked forward to discussing 2025 benchmarks in 2020. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Implement measures to raise the share of nationals from underrepresented regions among senior staff and set targets for representation of women at senior levels. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: HRD (with others) - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Steps begin in 2013 ### OED survey on engagement and confidentiality guidelines - OEDs survey: - Annual survey of the OEDs monitors whether country teams engage with Executive Directors and country authorities as expected. - The fourth survey concluded recently, with innovations including individual country-level feedback from all constituencies. - Response rate in 2019: 80 percent of the membership, with a total of 152 countries providing individual country-level feedback. - In all four surveys to date, the level of satisfaction of the OEDs with overall engagement of country teams has been over 80 percent. - OED qualitative comments provided suggestions to strengthen staff engagement and communication. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3: Emphasize and monitor the role of OED in liaison processes through an annual survey. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: Not indicated - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Steps begin in 2013 - IEO Recommendation: Reduce unnecessary disclosure concerns that may inhibit authorities from using the Fund as a sounding board for informal advice at an early stage. - Directors broadly endorsed the recommendation. One action remained open as of the Ninth PMR. - Confidentiality guidelines: - FDMD guidelines issued June 2013 include expectations on treatment of confidential information, but no mechanisms exist for assessing implementation. - The legal framework and expectations are summarized in Appendix IX: Guidelines on Treatment of Confidential Information (updated 2014 Guidance Note on the Fund’s Transparency Policy), but no clear enforcement-measure mechanism exists. - MANAGEMENT ACTION: Staff will be expected to inform the authorities of the Fund’s policy on the treatment of confidential information; staff will be encouraged to have informal/brainstorming discussions with country authorities during policy discussions. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: Not indicated - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Steps begin in 2013 ### Research at the IMF — relevance, utilization, quality, and openness - IEO evaluation (Research at the IMF – Relevance and Utilization, 2011) findings: - Fund Research was widely read and included many high-quality products. - Outside analytical chapters in the flagships, IMF research was of uneven quality and perceived to be message driven. - Some important issues were not always adequately covered, at times due to lack of consultation with authorities. - Management responses and actions: - The MIP envisaged seven actions in response to four IEO recommendations; two remained open after the 9th PMR; since then one action implemented, one remains with implementation challenges. - IEO Recommendation: Researchers should be allowed to explore issues without preconceived conclusions or messages; Directors stressed importance of addressing internal culture and institutional values to avoid bias. - MANAGEMENT ACTION: A statement of workplace values to be published emphasizing that staff should contribute ideas even if not in line with the Fund’s “groupthink.” - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: Not indicated - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated - Staff Discussion Notes (SDNs) and research procedures: - 2016 revised guidelines for SDNs align the publication with institutional and communication priorities; SDNs: - provide a mechanism to advance new analytical ideas and convey important messages supporting institutional objectives; - exclude examinations or conclusions of the institution’s stance on specific policy issues; - are limited to about 12 per year; - are designed to match institutional and communication priorities and timelines and associated with high-profile messaging events involving management. - Working papers: staff allowed to explore issues without preconceived conclusions or messages, subject to efficiency and quality considerations. - 2015 requirement: all staff research to be included in an ongoing research project list (ORPL) to identify synergies, reduce overlap, and foster alignment; management of ORPL transitioned from COM to KMU and reached a steady state. - Research quality standards and compliance: - New guidelines for research quality introduced in 2012, but no process exists for measuring compliance; difficult to assess whether working paper quality increased. - Guidelines indicate departments assume responsibility for their working papers and nominate senior staff responsible for ensuring a quality process and accountability. - Anecdotal interviews suggest strict adherence to procedures is not always observed. - MANAGEMENT ACTION: Adopt new procedures to ensure the quality of working papers. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: Not indicated - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated ### IMF performance in the run-up to the financial and economic crisis and staff diversity - IEO report (Run-Up to the Financial and Economic Crisis, 2011) findings: - The Fund provided few clear warnings of the build-up of vulnerabilities and risks in the global financial system. - Surveillance paid insufficient attention to risks of contagion and spillovers from the crisis in advanced economies. - Failures attributed to group-think, intellectual capture, inadequate analytical approaches, lack of incentives to work across units and raise contrarian views, and a review process that did not “connect the dots”. - The 2014 TSR and related management actions sought to address many issues identified. - Summary of progress: - In response to five IEO recommendations, the MIP envisaged 17 actions; seven remained open after the 9th PMR. Over the past year, one action implemented; six continue to face implementation challenges. - IEO Recommendation: Change insular culture by broadening professional diversity—hire more financial sector experts, analysts with financial markets experience, and economists with policymaking backgrounds. - Directors supported broadening staff diversity and welcomed efforts to hire financial sector experts and manage career progression. - The MIP envisaged one action, which remained open after the Ninth PMR. - MANAGEMENT ACTION: Efforts will continue to broaden the professional diversity of staff, including educational background and skill mix. HRD will provide regular reports to the Board on progress. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE - ACCOUNTABLE: HRD (with others) - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated - Recruitment and diversity data: - Over the last five years, number of mid-career fungible economists hired ranged from a high of 33 in FY 2015 to a low of 19 in FY 2016. - Recruitment was down by 15 percent in CY2018 due to tighter hiring space from lower separations. - Recruitment of economists in general down by 15 percent; recruitment of mid-career economists fell by 22 percent to the lowest level in ten years. - Skill mix: recruitment of mid-career economists in CY2018 broadly evenly split between specialists and fungible economists. - Over the past three years, MCM has hired more than 250 financial sector specialists. - Educational background: share of Ph.D. graduates from US and UK universities declined to under 53 percent for the EP 2018 and 2019 cohorts, showing increased diversity. - HRD informed the Board via: Staff Recruitment and Retention Experience in CY2018 (March 2019); 2019 Diversity and Inclusion Update (May 2019); 2019 Diversity and Inclusion Report (November 2019). - Strategy going forward: leverage expected high rate of retirements over the next 10 years through proactive mid-term workforce planning, deliberate succession planning, talent reviews, and a comprehensive skills and competencies inventory. - IEO Recommendation: Encourage staff to ask questions and challenge Management’s views and those of country authorities; support well-founded analysis even when diagnosis not shared by country authorities. - Directors agreed incentives needed to be strengthened to ensure the Fund “speaks truth to power”; MIP envisaged two actions, both remained open after the Ninth PMR. *Tenth Periodic Monitoring Report — excerpts as provided in the source content.* ### 72. The majority of Article IV staff reports discuss the traction of past advice, but the extent of ### ppea2020012 - 72. The majority of Article IV staff reports discuss the traction of past advice, but the extent of ### Traction of past advice in Article IV staff reports - About 85 percent of a broad sample of Article IV staff reports issued in late 2018 and early 2019 included easily identifiable—in a box or an annex—discussions on the traction of past advice. - Those discussions did not highlight changes in staff advice or successful implementation of other policies. - Staff are expected to include a brief assessment of the authorities’ response to the policy recommendations on the key issues raised in previous Article IV consultations, highlighting changes in staff advice and acknowledging, where relevant, if the authorities have successfully implemented policies that differed from staff advice. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: Staff will report on the traction of past advice. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE: (Not indicated) - ACCOUNTABLE: Not indicated - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated ### Consultation process and team engagement - Overall, 82 percent of respondents indicated that they were satisfied with the process for consultation. - 88 percent of respondents were satisfied with the substance of the relationship. - In 2018, 91 percent of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with country teams’ engagement. ### Financial sector integration, training, and tools - IEO Recommendation: Continue to strengthen the FSAPs and address the problems ... which limited its effectiveness in the run-up to the crisis. (Recommendation aimed at better integrating financial sector issues into macroeconomic assessments.) - In the absence of sufficient support from Executive Directors for increasing the frequency of mandatory FSAPs for systemic economies, the MIP proposed alternative modalities. Five actions were envisaged, three of which remained open after the Ninth PMR. - Participation in ICD training events on financial issues increased in FY 2018-19 by more than 30 percent. - The total number of economists that attended Structured Curriculum (SC) events in finance reached 122 in FY2019, compared to 103 in the previous year. - 371 economists attended non-SC events on financial issues in FY2019, compared to 265 in the previous year. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 1: Coverage of financial issues in Article IVs will be strengthened by stepped-up training and dissemination of vetted tools and good practices, as well as cross-country thematic studies. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE: (Not indicated) - ACCOUNTABLE: Not indicated - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Staff will exchange views with the authorities on key issues for discussion prior to Article IV missions, but without compromising the IMF’s capacity – and obligation – to raise relevant, and at times, difficult issues. - IMPLEMENTED - ACCOUNTABLE: Not indicated - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated - ICD continues to update the financial sector curriculum as needs evolve; workshops and case studies in SC courses are continuously updated to reflect methodological advances, data availability, and changes in the finance industry. Staff continue to benefit from hands-on experience through the ongoing initiative to mainstream macrofinancial surveillance. ### Growth-at-Risk and other analytical tool developments - MCM, RES, and SPR have continued to review and update access to financial sector tools. - Major recent focus: promote the use of the Growth-at-Risk framework, which provides an estimation of the likelihood and severity of a future sharp economic slowdown using information from current financial prices and aggregates. - In 2018, MCM in collaboration with ITD developed a user-friendly tool to implement Growth-at-Risk analysis. - MCM staff issued a working paper explaining the framework, providing practical advice on how to conduct the analysis, drawing lessons from country case studies, and discussing the tool. - MCM has conducted several seminars for area departments on the use of the Growth-at-Risk framework. - The recent IEO evaluation on the IMF Financial Surveillance recommended streamlining and simplifying existing analytical tools to make them more user-friendly so as to facilitate their use by FSAP and Article IV teams. The MIP on this IEO evaluation is addressing this recommendation. ### FSAP cross-country lessons, guidance, and coordination - MCM continues to facilitate and promote the use of cross-country lessons from previous FSAPs. - October 2018 GFSR discussed regulatory reform in a large number of countries over the ten years following the global financial crisis and explained the role that FSAPs played in the process. - The Fund has published FSAP documents for a group of European countries and for the Euro Area, covering cross-cutting issues on low interest rate and low profitability of financial institutions. - The 2018 FSAP on Euro Area Policies distilled cross-country information and served as a reference point for subsequent FSAPs for Euro Area member countries. - Internal MCM resources available to Fund staff include: - (i) a knowledge exchange (KE) site on stress testing and guidance notes on the treatment of cross-cutting issues such as how to set monetary policy response in stress test scenarios for economies with limited policy space; - (ii) FSAP assessment guidance notes (AGN), which guide mission chiefs on what to do in FSAPs; - (iii) the MCM quantitative methods gateway, with tools for quantitative analysis in FSAPs; - (iv) the MCM Risk Assessment Database. - Coordination example: For Nordic countries, MCM scheduled national FSAPs close to each other (Denmark in 2014, Norway in 2015 followed by Finland and Sweden in 2016) and assigned overlapping team members to properly cover cross-cutting themes. Forthcoming Nordic FSAPs are expected to cover cross-cutting issues such as AML/CFT. - When new topics relevant for financial surveillance emerge (e.g., macroprudential policy in early 2010s, cyber risk, fintech, climate change), respective MCM functional divisions help direct how to cover these topics in country FSAPs; some new topics are covered on a pilot basis by sending the same experts. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 2: Intensify efforts to draw cross-country lessons from FSAPs. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE: (Not indicated) - ACCOUNTABLE: Not indicated - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated ### Internal review, linkages, and spillovers - IEO Recommendation: Management should clarify the rules and responsibilities for the internal review process, in particular for “connecting the dots.” (Recommendation aimed at overcoming silo behavior and mentality.) - Directors noted that recent initiatives, such as the new internal review process, should be given time before changes are considered. - The analysis and discussion of linkages and spillovers has continued to make progress. - The 2018 ISR concluded that staff had made significant progress in analytical tools and in the coverage of global risks and spillovers in the flagship reports and inward spillovers in Article IV consultations. - Work on outward spillovers was not consistently finding its way into Article IV reports. - The internal Spillover Task Force has ramped up efforts to better identify near-term policy issues and organize analytical projects. - Fund work on spillovers is expected to figure prominently in the 2020 CSR. The CSR will likely take stock of potential new sources and channels for contagion and spillover and whether the Fund has the right data, tools, and processes to continue to effectively identify, preempt, and mitigate spillovers. - MANAGEMENT ACTION 3: Continue to broaden the professional diversity of staff, including their educational background and skill mix, and to hire more staff with financial sector experience. - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE: (Not indicated) - ACCOUNTABLE: HRD (with others) - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated - MANAGEMENT ACTION: Better analyze linkages and spillovers across sectors and countries, as well as bring more cross-country experience to bear (as included in the 2011 TSR). - IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE: (Not indicated) - ACCOUNTABLE: Not indicated - ORIGINAL TARGET DATE: Not indicated ### Governance and proposed Board decision - Proposed Decision: The Board reviewed the implementation status of Management Actions in Response to Board-Endorsed IEO Recommendations and endorsed the assessment of their implementation progress as proposed in the Tenth Periodic Monitoring Report (PMR) on the Status of Management Implementation Plans (MIPs) in Response to Board-Endorsed Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) Recommendations (SM/19/281). *Source: Tenth Periodic Monitoring Report (selected excerpts).* --- _Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/pp/2020/english/ppea2020012.pdf_