Policy Papers
2023
July 31, 2023
Making Public Debt Public—Ongoing Initiatives and Reform Options
Description: The paper develops and assesses options to improve public debt transparency. It first makes the case, both conceptually and empirically, for greater public debt transparency. To guide the development and assessment of options, it examines the factors hindering transparency, including capacity and governance gaps, and borrower and creditor incentives. The paper then provides a high-level overview of existing initiatives to improve public debt transparency, identifying priorities for progress and policy gaps. Next, it presents and analyzes the merits of a range of options to improve public debt transparency, drawn from reform proposals gaining prominence in policymaking circles while reflecting Fund policy priorities. The IMF could contribute to these reforms with actions within its mandate but would need significant additional resources.
Notes: Making Public Debt Public—Ongoing Initiatives and Reform Options—Background Paper
July 21, 2023
Statement by the Managing Director on the FY 2024 Work Program of the Executive Board Executive Board Meeting May 30, 2023
Description: This Executive Board Work Program (BWP) for FY 2024 (May 2023 to April 2024) focuses on supporting the membership in responding to these challenges through prompt and tailored policy advice, financial assistance—buttressed by efforts to support debt restructuring processes—and capacity development. It ensures that the Board can continue to closely monitor economic and financial developments and discuss macro policy responses. The BWP also provides opportunities to deliberate on key Fund policies and operations. Given continued high uncertainty, the BWP will need to remain flexible and adaptable to prioritize the membership’s changing needs, while recognizing the Fund’s constrained budget environment.
July 7, 2023
Extension of the Periods for Consent to and Payment of Quota Increases
Description: On June 15, 2023, the IMF’s Executive Board approved an additional extension, for one year, of the period for members to consent to an increase in their quotas under the Fourteenth General Review of Quotas (“Fourteenth Review”) through June 30, 2024. The previous deadline was due to expire on June 30, 2023. However, the Board of Governors Resolution No. 66-2 provides that the Executive Board may extend the period for consent as it may determine. The Executive Board also approved an additional extension by one year of the period for payment of quota increases under the Fourteenth Review, and an extension for the payment of the quota increases under the 2008 Reform, through June 30, 2024.
June 30, 2023
Supplement to The Guidance Note for The Use of Third-Party Indicators in Fund Reports
Description: This supplement to the Guidance Note for the Use of Third-Party Indicators in Fund Reports (TPI GN) provides guidance to staff on indicators not to be used in Fund reports, and revises the frequency of updates to the Third-Party Indicators Digest. All other provisions of the TPI GN remain in effect.
June 30, 2023
Review of Experience with The Food Shock Window Under The Rapid Financing Instrument and The Rapid Credit Facility
Description: The Food Shock Window (FSW) under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) and the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) was approved in September 2022 for 12 months, as a complement to the tools used by the Fund to support the broader international effort to address the global food shock. The Fund has been working closely with partners to provide a coordinated international response to the global food shock, and has contributed through policy advice, technical assistance and lending. Where needed and possible, financial support to countries affected by the global food shock has been delivered by the IMF through multi-year Fund-supported programs The FSW complemented this support in situations where these programs were not feasible or not necessary. As the global food shock and associated balance of payment pressures are expected to continue throughout 2023, the IMF extended the FSW until end-March 2024 to allow the FSW to continue serving as a contingency tool. This extension will also provide sufficient time to observe if the FSW can lapse without limiting the capacity of the Fund to support its members. To ensure adequate borrowing space under the emergency financing limits for those countries that have received support through the FSW, the IMF also extended the additional 25 percent of quota added to the Cumulative Access Limit until end-2026 for countries that have accessed the Food Shock Window through the RFI and until the completion of the 2024/25 PRGT review for those that accessed the Food Shock Window through the RCF.
June 30, 2023
Review of The Cumulative Access Limits Under The Rapid Financing Instrument and The Rapid Credit Facility
Description: The IMF extended the temporarily higher Cumulative Access Limits under the Fund’s Emergency Financing instruments, the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) under the General Resources Account, and the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust. This extension ensures that the Fund can continue to support member countries that accessed Fund’s emergency financing during COVID-19 pandemic in case of renewed emergency situations. The temporarily higher cumulative access limits under the RFI will be maintained until end-June 2024 when most RFI recipients will have repaid a significant part of their past emergency financing. The temporarily higher cumulative access limits under the RCF will be maintained until the completion of the 2024/25 comprehensive review of the Fund’s concessional facilities and financing, given the longer repayment schedule for RCF financing.
June 23, 2023
Staff Guidance Note on Information Sharing in The Context of Sovereign Debt Restructurings
Description: The guidance note sets out principles governing information sharing in the context of sovereign debt restructurings. It restates the existing Fund governance and policy guidelines for information sharing to help inform and harmonize practices across Fund country teams. In addition to outlining guiding principles applicable to information sharing, it provides guidance on what level of information can be shared during each stage of the restructuring and program design process and in the surveillance context
June 23, 2023
List of IMF Member Countries with Delays in Completion of Article IV Consultations or Mandatory Financial Stability Assessments Over 18 Months
Description: List of IMF Member Countries with Delays in Completion of Article IV Consultations or Mandatory Financial Stability Assessments Over 18 Months
June 16, 2023
Review of the Climate Macroeconomic Assessment Program Pilots
Description: This paper reviews the two Climate Macroeconomic Assessment Program (CMAP) pilots and proposes a way forward. It builds on the experience of the previous six Climate Change Policy Assessment (CCPA) pilots, and the recent rollout of the World Bank’s Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR). It also accounts for early experience with countries requesting support under the Fund’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST). Based on the lessons from pilots and recent developments, staff proposes to streamline the CMAP to focus on the Fund’s comparative advantages in the areas of mitigation, PFM and macro-fiscal impact of climate change policies, provide a streamlined CMAP in exceptional circumstances, and expand more targeted CD in particular in support of RSF countries. This focused and tailored approach would benefit members as it is more agile, allows the Fund to serve more members within the same resource envelope and enhance synergies with other Fund products and the World Bank’s CCDR.
June 16, 2023
Review of the Fund’s Income Position for FY2023 and FY2024
Description: This paper updates the projections of the Fund’s income position for FY 2023 and FY 2024 and proposes related decisions for the current and next financial year. The paper also includes a proposed decision to keep the margin for the rate of charge unchanged for financial year 2024. The Fund’s overall net income for FY 2023 is projected at about SDR 1.8 billion, slightly lower than the April 2022 estimate.