Policy Papers
2024
May 17, 2024
Development Committee: The Managing Director's Written Statement April 2024
Description: The global economy has been resilient and appears headed for a soft landing. Inflation continues to recede and risks have become more balanced globally. Nonetheless, medium-term growth prospects remain at the lowest level in decades and a smooth completion of the disinflation process should not be taken for granted. While the outlook for low-income developing countries (LIDCs) is improving, risks are tilted to the downside. The pace of convergence toward higher living standards has slowed, making it increasingly challenging to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the last mile of disinflation, central banks should ensure that inflation moves durably to target: they should neither ease policies prematurely nor delay too long and risk causing target undershoot. Fiscal policies need to rebuild budgetary room and ensure debt sustainability. Fostering faster productivity growth and facilitating the green transition are keys to improving long-term growth prospects. Multilateral cooperation is key to enhancing the resilience of the global economy in a more shock-prone world.
May 15, 2024
Use of SDRs in the Acquisition of Hybrid Capital Instruments of the Prescribed Holders
Description: On May 10, 2024, the IMF’s Executive Board approved the use of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) for the acquisition of hybrid capital instruments issued by prescribed holders. This new use of SDRs, which adds to seven already authorized prescribed SDR operations, is subject to a cumulative limit of SDR 15 billion to minimize liquidity risks. The Executive Board also established a strong expectation that contributors channeling SDRs to prescribed holders under such capital contributions have Voluntary Trading Arrangements (VTAs) in place to ensure sufficient liquidity and equitable distribution of potential SDR exchanges into currencies. A review of the proposed use is expected to be conducted when cumulative hybrid capital contributions surpass SDR 10 billion or two years after the authorization, whichever comes first.
May 10, 2024
FY2025–FY2027 Medium-Term Budget
Description: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund approved the 2025-27 financial years (FY25-27) medium-term budget. While the global economy has shown resilience to successive adverse shocks, the overall global economic context remains complex with slow and uneven growth, increased fragmentation, deepening divergence, and still high interest rates despite easing inflationary pressures. Against this backdrop, the FY25-27 budget continues to be guided by principles of agility and budget discipline, reinforced by ongoing reprioritization and savings capture. It also builds on strong cooperation with other institutions, ensuring the Fund continues to focus on areas within its mandate, even as it addresses new demands. Work to strengthen internal operations also continue, focusing on both efficiency and effectiveness in meeting changing needs in the post-pandemic workplace, where rapid technological changes are underway. With significant demands within a constrained budget environment, the budget reflects difficult tradeoffs.
May 10, 2024
Review of the Fund’s Income Position for FY 2024 and FY 2025-2026
Description: This paper updates the projections of the Fund’s income position for FY 2024 and FY 2025-2026 and proposes related decisions for the current and the following financial years. The paper also includes a proposed decision to keep the margin for the rate of charge unchanged until completion of the review of surcharges, but until no later than end FY 2025, at which time the Board would set the margin for the rest of FY 2025 and FY 2026. The Fund’s overall net income for FY 2024 is projected at about SDR 4.4 billion after taking into account pension-related remeasurement gain and estimated retained investment income of the Endowment Account.
May 3, 2024
Statement by the Managing Director on the FY 2025 Work Program of the Executive Board Executive Board Meeting March 8, 2024
Description: This Executive Board Work Program (BWP) for FY 2025 (May 2024 to April 2025) is the first since the Executive Board has started to pilot a new strategic cycle, which aims at incorporating Directors’ broader views on work priorities at an earlier stage in the planning process for the fiscal year. Highlevel costing indicators are also included for non-recurring items based on a pilot costing exercise. The BWP focuses on supporting the membership in responding to current challenges through prompt and tailored policy advice, financial assistance, and support for debt restructuring and capacity development.1 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. The BWP will need to stay flexible to prioritize the membership’s changing needs while operating within the Fund’s constrained budget environment.
April 30, 2024
Operational Guidance Note for IMF Engagement on Social Spending Issues
Description: This note provides general guidance on the operationalization of the strategy for IMF engagement on social spending. Social spending plays a critical role as a key lever for promoting inclusive growth, addressing inequality, protecting vulnerable groups during structural change and adjustment, smoothing consumption over the lifecycle, and stabilizing demand during economic shocks. Social spending policies have also been playing an important role in tackling the structural challenges associated with demographic shifts, gender inequality, technological advances, and climate change. This note builds on a series of notes on IMF engagement on specific social spending issues since the publication of the 2019 strategy paper and provides operational guidance on when and how to engage on social spending issues, in the context of surveillance, IMF-supported programs, and capacity development.
April 25, 2024
2024 Update of Resource Adequacy of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust and the Debt Relief Trusts
Description: This paper provides an update of the adequacy of the resources of the Fund’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) and the debt relief trusts. Demand for PRGT loans continued to exceed earlier projections. Total PRGT credit outstanding reached SDR 18.3 billion at end-2023, or three times the pre-pandemic average. PRGT fundraising targets under the 2021 two-stage funding strategy to support LICs during the pandemic and beyond were met. Work is underway to implement the pledges. Ensuring PRGT long-term sustainability is a priority, and balancing a level of PRGT lending that meets the demand from eligible countries while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Trust will be taken up in the ongoing PRGT Review. The Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) remains severely underfunded, after providing debt relief to the IMF’s poorest and most vulnerable members during 2020–22. The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative is nearly complete. Somalia reached its Completion Point under the HIPC Initiative in December 2023, while Sudan’s prospects for reaching its HIPC Completion Point remain uncertain owing to domestic developments.
April 25, 2024
Policy Coordination Instrument — Updated Operational Guidance Note
Description: This note provides updated general guidance on the use of the Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI). The PCI is a non-financing instrument designed for countries that, at the time of the PCI request, are seeking to unlock financing from sources other than the Fund and/or to demonstrate a commitment to a reform agenda. Since its establishment in 2017 as part of the Fund’s work on the Global Financial Safety Net, the PCI has been used by several members. These experiences helped establish and refine best practices, which are reflected in this updated operational guidance note together with changes to the PCI policy approved by the Executive Board on October 4, 2023. The note covers operational issues in a broad range of areas such as purpose, objectives, eligibility, modalities, applicability of UFR-related and other relevant policies, design of a PCI-supported program, conditionality framework, review schedule , and a comparison with other lending instruments. The note is an aid to the implementation of the PCI policy and its underlying principles. If there is any instance in which a provision of the guidance note or its implementation conflicts with the policy approved by the Board, the PCI policy shall prevail.
April 19, 2024
Progress Report to The IMFC on The Activities of The Independent Evaluation Office of The IMF: April 12, 2024
Description: Since the 2023 Annual Meetings, the IEO has continued making progress on the two ongoing evaluations and will launch a new evaluation—on IMF Advice on Fiscal Policy—targeted for completion in the second half of 2025. The IEO has collaborated with staff on the 13th Periodic Monitoring Report (PMR) and the management implementation plans (MIPs) that follow up on the Board-endorsed recommendations of the completed evaluations of The IMF and Capacity Development and The IMF’s Emergency Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The external evaluation of the IEO is expected to be completed by mid-2024.
April 18, 2024
The Managing Director's Global Policy Agenda, Spring Meetings 2024: Rebuild, Revive, Renew
Description: The global economy has shown remarkable resilience, and appears headed for a soft landing. But buffers have been eroded, growth prospects are lackluster, and vulnerable countries are at risk of falling further behind. While inflation has fallen, it remains above target in many countries. Against this background, the key policy priorities are to: (i) rebuild buffers; (ii) revive medium-term growth; and (iii) renew the IMF’s commitment to ensure that our policies, lending toolkit, and governance are fit for purpose. Central banks need to finish the job on inflation, carefully managing its descent to target. With a soft landing in sight, policymakers’ focus needs to shift to fiscal consolidation to safeguard public finances. Reviving growth prospects will require accelerating structural reforms and joint efforts by countries to tackle transformational challenges. Firmly grounded in its mandate, working with its members, and in partnership with other international organizations, the IMF will continue to serve its members with policy advice, financial lifelines, and capacity development to help safeguard their economic and financial stability, a foundation for inclusive and sustainable growth.