Managing Director’s Remarks Opening of the IEO@20 Conference

IMF News, November 16, 2021

Source details

Occasion: 20th anniversary of the IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office (IEO).
Speaker: Managing Director.
Date: November 16, 2021.
Overarching theme: the IEO as a pillar of the IMF’s learning culture—helping the IMF analyze past experience, adapt to change, and improve policy advice and operational effectiveness.

Independent operation: "It operates both fully independently from the IMF Management and at arm's length from the Executive Board."
Core goals the IEO serves:
- To enhance the learning culture within the Fund.
- To support institutional governance and accountability.
- To strengthen the Fund's external credibility.
Institutional advantage emphasized: agility, streamlined design, responsiveness, and use of a range of evaluation modalities (including short format and updates) to be timely and impactful.

Historical framing: Born after the Asian crisis; came of age with the Global Financial Crisis.
Five examples where the IEO helped the Fund improve:
- After the Global Financial Crisis and the European debt crisis, the IEO prompted the Fund to rethink its approach to crisis prevention and response; this learning informed the Fund's emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Integration of social spending into economic policy advice—especially crucial during the COVID-19 crisis.
- Evaluation on fragile states—informing a new comprehensive strategy for countries falling further behind during the pandemic.
- Insights critical for advancing IMF thinking on capital flows and the Integrated Policy Framework.
- Advice on how to further enhance collaboration with the World Bank—vital for pandemic response and for addressing the climate crisis.

Emphasis on learning: quote cited — “Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”
Management response to IEO recommendations:
- Implementation plans have become continuous-improvement tools.
- Plans are now more focused and include actions that are SMART—that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timebound.
- Increased focus on concise, readable evaluations drawing on systematic evidence.

The world is fast-changing; the IEO should remain a partner as the Fund adapts.
Calls for timely evaluations of the IMF’s COVID-19 early response (evaluation already underway) to inform:
- Crisis prevention.
- Crisis management.
- Handling future shocks in an increasingly shock-prone world.
Request for insights on resilience:
- Define resilience more comprehensively — including resilience of people and of the planet.
- Embed such definitions into policy discussions with member countries to improve the quality of their efforts to accelerate needed transformations.

A candid and engaged partnership: management may not always see eye to eye with the IEO, but both work toward the best outcomes from evaluations and their translation into IMF work.
Mutual evolution: the IEO’s contributions over twenty years have helped create a more resilient IMF; the IMF counts on the IEO to help deliver support for greater resilience of members and the world economy.

Managing Director’s Remarks Opening of the IEO@20 Conference, November 16, 2021.