Technical Assistance Reports
2025
July 9, 2025
The Bahamas: Technical Assistance Report-Report on External Sector Statistics Virtual Mission (March 10–14, 2025)
Description: A virtual technical assistance (TA) mission on external sector statistics (ESS) was conducted to the Central Bank of The Bahamas (CBB) as part of the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) work program on ESS. The mission focused on improving source data and compilation techniques for producing the balance of payments (BOP) and assisting the Central Bank of The Bahamas (CBB) in finalizing the compilation of the international investment position (IIP) statistics in line with the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, sixth edition (BPM6).
July 2, 2025
Guinea: Technical Assistance Report-Operationalization of the Statutory Special Resolution Regime
Description: The report outlines the efforts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to assist the Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea (BCRG) in operationalizing a special resolution regime (SRR) for credit institutions. This initiative addresses the deficiencies in Guinea's financial safety net, which currently lacks a comprehensive resolution framework. The project involved enhancing staff capacity and developing resolution tools like partial sale and bridge institution. Key findings highlight the need for increased staffing and expertise, while recommendations focus on establishing a resolution function, drafting resolution plans, and ensuring that resolution tools will be supported by an adequate resolution funding mechanism. These measures aim to strengthen Guinea's financial stability and crisis management capabilities.
June 25, 2025
Ukraine: Technical Assistance Report-Review of the Counterparty Eligibility for Monetary Policy Operations and the Emergency Liquidity Assistance Framework
Description: The IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department conducted a technical assistance engagement with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to enhance the NBU’s counterparty eligibility criteria for monetary policy lending operations and strengthen its Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) framework. The mission undertook a comprehensive review of the NBU’s counterparty eligibility criteria and key recommendations focused on integrating financial soundness assessments to ensure that only solvent entities are eligible for participation, thereby mitigating systemic risks. In this regard, the mission recommended implementing access limitations or suspension measures for counterparties that do not comply with solvency requirements. These measures should be as automatic as possible, operating within a clear regulatory framework. Additionally, the mission aimed to strengthen the ELA framework to enable rapid responses to potential liquidity crises. To this end, it recommended expanding the types of collateral eligible for ELA operations to encompass assets that are also eligible for monetary policy operations. Furthermore, the mission emphasized the need to improve internal procedures and decision-making processes, as well as operational readiness, to ensure timely access to emergency liquidity for solvent banks.
June 18, 2025
Peru: Technical Assistance Report-Cybersecurity Strategy for the Financial Sector
Description: At the request of the Superintendency of Banking Insurance and Private Pension Fund Administrators (SBS), a technical assistance mission from the Monetary and Capital Markets Department of the International Monetary Fund visited Lima, Peru during the period September 18 to October 1, 2024. Virtual meetings were also held during the period August 13 to 21, 2024. The purpose of the mission was to advise the authorities in developing a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy for the financial sector in Peru. The mission reviewed the cyber posture of Peru to assess current capabilities and challenges, met with financial sector authorities and external stakeholders to discuss developments and issues relating to the cyber resilience of the financial sector, and recommended actions to support the development of a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy for the financial sector.
June 18, 2025
Tonga: Technical Assistance Report-Modernizing the Monetary Policy Framework and Operations of the NRBT
Description: The IMF conducted a Technical Assistance mission to assist the National Reserve Bank of Tonga (NRBT) in modernizing its monetary policy framework. The mission aimed to address persistent challenges such as excess liquidity and an inactive interbank market, which have impeded effective monetary policy transmission. The mission is significant as it builds on previous IMF assistance and addresses key vulnerabilities in Tonga's monetary policy framework. The mission also aligns with ongoing Fund surveillance and program priorities. The mission found that the effectiveness of Tonga's monetary policy framework is constrained by gaps in both the institutional arrangements and the calibration of NRBT’s monetary policy actions. In this context, the mission focused on developing a modernized market-based monetary operational framework that enables active liquidity management and the alignment of short-term money market rates with the NRBT policy rate. The mission also focused on improving collateral policies (for liquidity providing monetary policy operations) and strengthening NRBT communications as key complementary tools. To this end, innovative tools were applied, such as Large Language models to assess NRBT communications, and the provision of collateral haircut methodologies to improve risk management. The mission recommended a gradual modernization process focusing on two main workstreams: developing the NRBT’s analytical capacity to assess the monetary policy stance and enhancing its operational capacity to align money market rates with the desired policy stance. This involves transitioning to a mid-rate interest rate corridor with regular open market operations supported by adequate standing facilities, and a robust liquidity monitoring and forecasting framework.
June 13, 2025
Samoa: Technical Assistance Report-National Accounts Statistics Mission (March 24–April 18, 2025)
Description: The Samoan authorities have expressed strong interest in the Supply and Use Tables (SUT) to improve macroeconomic projections for policy purposes. The mission worked with Samoa Bureau of Statistics (SBS) staff to assess and adjust the Household Income and Expenditure Survey data; compile Household Final Consumption Expenditure estimates for 2023; and map the estimates to the SUT. In addition, Government Final Consumption Expenditure, and output and intermediate consumption estimates by industry have been compiled and incorporated in the SUT. Exports and imports data were assessed, aggregated, and mapped to the SUT as well.
June 13, 2025
Ukraine: Technical Assistance Report-Foreign Exchange Derivatives Market Development
Description: This report overviews the IMF technical assistance mission to enhance Ukraine’s FX derivatives market amidst ongoing economic challenges. In navigating the complex environment, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) imposed FX restrictions to manage flows, complicating normalization of financial markets. The mission examined the key enabling conditions for FX derivatives markets – a robust regulatory framework, a range of instruments across maturities, well-organized infrastructure, and heterogeneity in the user base with different risk profiles – all supported by effective money and FX operational framework. The assessment found that key enabling conditions for FX derivative markets exist, although the business needs for FX derivatives is weak, and intermediaries remain cautious about FX exposures. Some steps have been taken to ease FX restrictions, yet additional steps need to be anchored on strong and consistent supporting policies, including improving the effectiveness of monetary operations and streamlining FX operations. The recommendations emphasized that the NBU’s commitment to return to an inflation-targeting framework supported by exchange rate flexibility augurs well for supporting market-based incentives for FX derivative trading.
June 11, 2025
United Kingdom-Montserrat-British Overseas Territory: Technical Assistance Report-Report on External Sector Statistics Mission (October 14–25, 2024)
Description: A technical assistance (TA) mission on external sector statistics (ESS) was conducted to the Statistics Department (SD) of Montserrat during October 14-25, 2024, as part of the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) work program on ESS. The mission focused on assisting the SD in extrapolating the results of the low-season Visitor Expenditure Survey (VES) conducted by the SD and the Montserrat Tourism Division (MTD) to enhance estimates of travel exports for the balance of payments (BOP). The mission also provided support to improve statistics on trade in goods and international cooperation. In addition, the revised 2023 BOP (for dissemination in December 2024) was reviewed.
June 6, 2025
Zambia: Technical Assistance Report-Strengthening Cash Forecasting
Description: Effective cash management is essential for enhancing fiscal discipline in Zambia, yet it faces significant challenges. With programmatic capacity development support from the IMF the authorities are making progress in improving institutional arrangements and strengthening capacity and technical tools for cashflow forecasting. The IMF’s cashflow forecasting assessment tool (CFAT) has been adopted to produce a comprehensive annual cash flow plan. Alongside with strengthening forecasting practices and data reliability, consolidating government accounts will be critical for effective cash management.
June 4, 2025
Zimbabwe: Technical Assistance Report-Report on Data Quality Assessment for Public Sector Debt Statistics Mission (February 6–12, 2025)
Description: This report discusses the findings and recommendations of the 2025 assessment of the data quality of the public debt statistics of Zimbabwe against the IMF’s Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF). The assessment was undertaken as part of a project to strengthen the quality of public sector debt statistics (PSDS) in selected African countries, funded by the Government of Japan. Discussions with various stakeholders as well as review of data received and published indicate that Zimbabwe’s public debt statistics are broadly reliable and continue to improve. The responsibility for debt management and reporting is clearly specified and established in the law. The flow of information needed to compile Zimbabwe’s public sector debt statistics is efficient, well-coordinated, audited annually by the Auditor- General, and the report presented to Parliament. Compilation methods broadly follow international statistical standards and there is evidence of strong and frictionless oversight provided by the top management of Zimbabwe’s Public Debt Management Office. The report noted the need for sustained commitment by top management to enhance debt data quality, transparency, and accountability. Recommendations include inter alia expanding the sector coverage of the public debt reports to include direct non-guaranteed borrowing of public units outside the budgetary central government, assessing the materiality of liabilities related to public private partnerships (PPPs) and financial leases, and expanding debt instruments to include expenditure arrears and other accounts payable.