## IMF Survey: IMF to Enhance Impact of Its Technical Assistance

_IMF News, July 31, 2008_

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**Canonical URL:** [IMF Survey: IMF to Enhance Impact of Its Technical Assistance](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sopol073108b)

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: July 31, 2008

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### Overview
- Technical assistance provided by IMF experts and consultants is being better integrated with the IMF's economic monitoring (surveillance), lending, and country reform agendas to ensure high impact.
- The IMF plans to open four more regional technical assistance centers around the world.
- Publication date: July 31, 2008.

### Integration with Surveillance and Lending
- Unique linkage: The surveillance-lending-technical assistance relationship differentiates the IMF from other technical assistance providers and helps prioritize assistance in line with country strategic objectives and IMF policy advice.
- IMF operations back implementation of surveillance and lending recommendations with technical assistance when appropriate.
- Area departments assume lead role for setting technical assistance strategies in coordination with country authorities.
- Strategic planning: Regional Strategy Notes articulate and prioritize technical assistance needs in a medium-term framework to balance short-term policy needs and medium-term capacity-building requirements.
- Cooperation: Longer planning horizons facilitate cooperation with other providers (World Bank, regional development banks, other agencies and donors) to avoid overlap and reflect respective expertise.

### Capacity Building and Regional Assistance Centers
- Technical assistance is a core IMF activity aimed at helping countries build institutions and skills to design and implement macroeconomic policies that promote growth.
- In FY2008, close to 200 "person-years" (or about 52,000 working days) of assistance was delivered to IMF member countries.
- Regional centers: The IMF's six existing regional assistance centers are in the Pacific; the Caribbean; East, West, and Central Africa; and the Middle East.
- Planned expansion: The IMF plans to establish four new regional centers—one in Central America, one in Central Asia, and two more in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Regional center financing: Each center receives the bulk of its funding from donor countries, international agencies, regional development banks, and sometimes from recipient countries themselves.
- Governance: Steering committees comprising representatives from beneficiary countries, donors, and the IMF provide strategic guidance for centers' work programs.

### Performance Measurement and Costing
- A strengthened framework is being put in place to systematically track the achievement of objectives and deliverables in technical assistance projects.
- Indicators are defined in advance by project managers and results will be assessed against them to allow systematic evaluation and derive lessons when shortfalls occur.
- Costing: Costing technical assistance activities is becoming more accurate and transparent to enable efficient allocation of resources, improve accountability, and facilitate raising additional external financing.
- Meaningful assessments of technical assistance results will involve weighing costs of delivery.

### Donor Partnerships and New Financing Sources
- The IMF is forging stronger partnerships with donors who finance technical assistance; donors value IMF technical assistance for benefits to individual countries and for promoting international growth and stability.
- The IMF seeks to leverage comparative advantages of its technical assistance to expand donor financing by deepening existing partnerships and broadening the donor base to tap new financing sources.
- Pooling of donor funds has proven effective, particularly through regional assistance centers that operate with multi-donor financing and donor input via steering committees.

### Topical Trust Funds and Thematic Priorities
- The IMF is developing a menu of topical trust funds to pool donor resources for technical assistance in selected areas of IMF expertise; trust funds would highlight links between IMF technical assistance and donors' overseas development strategies.
- Potential trust fund topics include:
  - strengthening public financial management;
  - combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism;
  - developing statistics;
  - managing natural resource wealth;
  - assisting with debt sustainability and public debt/asset management;
  - improving financial sector stability and development in low-income countries;
  - financing technical assistance to fragile states.
- Rationale: Topical trust funds would concentrate on specialized technical assistance on specific issues, creating synergies with regional centers (which tend to have a more "hands-on" capacity-building focus).
- Coordination: Pooling arrangements would facilitate coordination between donors of their respective assistance to countries, consistent with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

### Key Findings and Policy Recommendations
- Match capacity building with overall strategic objectives through medium-term strategic planning (Regional Strategy Notes).
- Strengthen internal governance by defining indicators in advance and systematically assessing results against deliverables.
- Improve costing transparency to inform resource allocation, accountability, and fundraising.
- Deepen and broaden donor partnerships; pursue pooled financing models (regional centers and topical trust funds).
- Expand regional presence by opening four new regional technical assistance centers to enhance delivery and donor coordination.

*IMF Survey online, July 31, 2008.*

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## References

- [https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus](https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus)
- [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)
- [Policy](https://www.imf.org/en/news/search)
- [Defense against illicit activity](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2008/POL073108A.htm)
- [Technical assistance: Ghana's oil](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2008/CAR072908B.htm)
- [Watch the video](https://www.imf.org/external/mmedia/view.asp?eventID=1221)
- [Technical assistance key issues](https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/key/tech.htm)
- [IMF Board discusses assistance reform](https://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pn/2008/pn0858.htm)
- [Technical assistance factsheet](https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/tech.htm)
- [Regional assistance centers](https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/afritac.htm)
- [Technical assistance in Africa](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2008/CAR022908A.htm)
- [Assistance in fragile states](https://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pn/2008/pn0843.htm)
- [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sopol073108b_