High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Reports
The High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Report series provides high-level summaries of the assistance provided to IMF capacity development recipients, describing the high-level objectives, findings, and recommendations.
2025
April 9, 2025
South Africa: Report on the Virtual Energy Accounts Mission
Description: The IMF's Statistics Department has been actively assisting Statistics South Africa in the development of energy and air emissions accounts, through a project backed by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The mission conducted during February 13–17, 2025, found significant progress in the development of energy accounts for 2015–2021, scheduled for release in March 2025. Recommendations include further development of air emissions accounts, enhancing the accounts, and securing necessary resources to sustain these efforts. These initiatives are crucial for South Africa's climate policy formulation and international reporting obligations.
April 9, 2025
Malawi: Data Quality Assessment for Public Sector Debt Statistics
Description: In January/February 2025, an assessment was undertaken of the data quality of the public sector debt statistics (PSDS) of Malawi against the IMF’s Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF) for PSDS. The mission was undertaken as part of a project to strengthen the quality of public sector debt in select African countries, funded by the Government of Japan. The mission reviewed the PSDS compilation and dissemination practices against each element of the DQAF and presented a series of recommendations to improve the quality and transparency of the PSDS of Malawi.
April 4, 2025
Curaçao and Sint Maarten: Systemic Risk and Financial Stability, Financial Stability Report
Description: The technical assistance aimed to enhance the Financial Stability Report (FSR) of the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten. It reviewed the 2023 FSR and discussed the report's composition and the related financial stability analyses and assessments. In particular, the mission helped the team to estimate sectoral credit risk models using the Bayesian Model Averaging, enhancing the forward-looking element of the report. The mission concluded that the FSR could be further streamlined following the central story with the key messages. Furthermore, developments in the analytical toolkit could further enhance the report quality.
April 4, 2025
Suriname: Financial Stability, Monetary Policy, and Central Bank Communication
Description: The technical assistance mission evaluated the Central Bank of Suriname’s (CBvS) communication on monetary policy and financial stability to enhance transparency, consistency, and stakeholder engagement. Recommendations include institutionalizing structured decision-making with fixed schedules for Monetary Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC) and Financial Stability Advisory Committee (FSAC) meetings, followed by policy-setting Executive Board sessions. These efforts should be supported by forward-looking publications, such as the Monetary Policy Report (MPR) and Financial Stability Report (FSR). Enhanced communication strategies, including proactive outreach and capacity-building programs, aim to align CBvS practices with international standards, strengthen credibility, regain public trust, and support its mandate for price and financial stability.
April 4, 2025
Turks and Caicos Islands: Financial Stability Report Review, Credit Risk Modelling, and Stress Testing
Description: The technical assistance (TA) missions to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) aimed to enhance the Financial Services Commission’s (TCIFSC) financial stability efforts. The missions reviewed the Financial Stability Report (FSR), developed sectoral credit risk models, and established a stress testing (ST) framework. They provided tools for assessing non-performing loans (NPLs) and conducting STs under various macroeconomic scenarios. Results indicate that TCI’s banking sector is resilient, benefiting from robust initial capital. Recommendations include refining the FSR’s structure, improving credit risk modeling, and establishing regular ST exercises. These TA missions reinforce TCIFSC’s capacity to identify and address financial vulnerabilities effectively.
April 4, 2025
Barbados: Stress testing
Description: The technical assistance mission developed a multi-factor, multi-period solvency stress testing framework for banks supervised by the Central Bank of Barbados (CBB) and credit unions supervised by the Financial Services Commission (FSC). This framework is built around explicit macroeconomic scenarios and credit risk satellite models for non-performing loans (NPLs), estimated separately for each type of institution. The calibrated macroeconomic scenarios are integrated into the NPL satellite models to project NPLs and, ultimately, credit losses. The developed tools provide scenario-specific, macroeconomically consistent projections of institutions’ key balance sheet, profit and loss, and capital adequacy items over a period of up to three years.
April 4, 2025
Bangladesh: Disaster Risk Financing
Description: Disasters have posed significant economic costs to Bangladesh, and financing needs associated with disaster response are estimated to be substantial. Bangladesh has put in place fiscal mechanisms, social protection programs, and financial instruments to respond to natural disasters. While the country has adequate resources for recurrent disasters, financing gap for moderate and severe disasters remains large. The government could strengthen fiscal policy mechanisms to help close the financing gap and make social programs more shock-responsive and scalable in times of disaster. Bangladesh could also better leverage financial sector instruments to enhance disaster resilience.
March 18, 2025
Uzbekistan: Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy and Annual Borrowing Plan
Description: At the request of the authorities, a joint World Bank-IMF technical assistance (TA) mission visited Tashkent, Uzbekistan during October 9–20, 2023 to help the authorities in developing a mediumterm debt management strategy (MTDS), designing an Annual Borrowing Plan (ABP), and to train the authorities on the use of the Medium-term Debt Management Strategy Analytical tool (MTDS AT) and ABP AT. The mission presented its main findings and recommendations to the authorities and left a draft report at the end of the mission.
March 14, 2025
Papua New Guinea: Climate Policy Diagnostic
Description: This technical assistance conducts a Climate Policy Diagnostic (CPD) for Papua New Guinea, covering climate adaptation and mitigation policy, as well as enabling institutions. Climate-related risks are macro-critical considerations for Papua New Guinea, while the country faces acute policy challenges in addressing climate-development nexus. This CPD identifies policy reforms that are good for climate and economic growth and promote fiscal sustainability. A systematic policy approach is needed to strengthen the climate resilience of water supply sector and disaster risk management. Carbon pricing can play a major role in the fiscal policy package to encourage climate actions in the energy and forestry sectors. Increasing the Treasury’s engagement and strengthening cross-sectoral coordination would also help unlock climate investment.
March 7, 2025
The Gambia: Public Investment Management Assessment Update with the Climate Module
Description: The assistance assessed The Gambia’s public investment management practices and their climate sensitivity using the Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA) with the Climate Module (C-PIMA). Findings reveal progress in strengthening the institutional design of public investment management since the 2019 PIMA, with advances such as the 2020 Cabinet Memorandum establishing the Gambia Strategic Review Board, the 2023 State Owned Enterprise (SOE) Act for centralized SOE oversight, and improved procurement legislation. However, gaps in project selection criteria, centralized reviews, and risk assessment persist. The assessment also noted weaknesses in the climate sensitivity of public investment management, with limited integration of climate risks into project planning, appraisal, and selection. Recommendations include creating a public investment management information system, centralizing PIM oversight within the Ministry of Finance, establishing project selection pipelines, and enhancing climate-related criteria within investment decisions.