News Brief

IMF Engages Consultants to Assess External Communications

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has selected Edelman Public Relations Worldwide, together with Wirthlin Worldwide, a leading survey research firm, to offer recommendations for improving the ways in which the IMF communicates on its work to the public. The partnership of Edelman and Wirthlin was chosen after consideration of bids from a number of companies.

The project will take about six months and consists of two parts. First, the consultants will conduct a survey to measure perceptions and gauge thinking about the IMF among policy makers, the media, academics, the corporate sector, and representatives of civil society (non-governmental organizations, labor unions, religious groups) in a range of countries broadly representative of the IMF’s membership. The survey findings will form the basis for recommendations on areas in which the IMF can enhance the information it provides the public. Second, the consultants will evaluate the methods and instruments that the IMF currently uses to explain its purposes, work, and processes, and make recommendations on how these might be improved.

In announcing the project, Shailendra Anjaria, Director of the IMF External Relations Department, said: "We want to strengthen public understanding of the IMF’s mission, and to this end are seeking the advice of outside specialists to learn how we might do more to explain ourselves better." He added, "I see this project as reinforcing our ongoing effort to increase the IMF’s openness."

The study will be conducted under the oversight of the IMF’s External Relations Department, which will draw on its main conclusions and recommendations to define options for improving the IMF’s external communications.