Policy Papers

The Fund has made significant progress towards greater transparency over the past decade. Nearly all Board documents are published and are on average published more quickly. The information available in the Fund’s archives has significantly increased and is more easily accessible to the public. The Fund’s transparency framework, centered around the Transparency and the Open Archives policies, also continues to be on par with other comparable international financial institutions. While experience suggests that these policies are effective in delivering on their objectives, in a more interconnected and shock-prone world the pace with which policymakers need to make decisions has accelerated and the expectations of stakeholders on the availability and timeliness of the Fund’s analysis and policy advice has grown. Against this backdrop, the 2024 Review of the IMF’s Transparency Policy and Open Archives Policy focuses on targeted reforms to (i) support faster publication of board documents and communications of Board’s decisions; (ii) strengthen the rules and processes to modify Board documents prior to publication; and (iii) allow faster release of some documents in the Fund’s archives accessible to the public. The reforms further clarify the scope and objectives of these policies and their implementation processes. The review was supported by data analysis as well as surveys and consultations with key stakeholders as detailed in the three background papers accompanying this 2024 review.