IMF Working Papers

This paper explores initiatives to date by the IMF, financial markets, and civil society organizations to assess and utilize information on fiscal transparency. The results of surveys and interviews of rating agency analysts and surveys of civil society organizations on their level of awareness of, and use of IMF fiscal transparency assessments are presented. The paper then considers the relative roles of the IMF, the private sector, and civil society organizations in assessing and promoting fiscal transparency, and the scope for greater complementarity among their roles. The paper concludes with a number of suggestions for making the IMF's fiscal transparency initiatives more effective.