Statement by The Managing Director on the Work Program of The Executive Board: June 11, 2020

Policy Papers, July 9, 2020

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The COVID 19 crisis continues to take a heavy human and economic toll.
The outlook remains highly uncertain as many countries are facing the economic fallout of the pandemic.
The crisis has led to an unprecedented surge in demand for Fund support and a strain on staff resources.
In line with the Spring 2020 Global Policy Agenda and the International Monetary and Financial Committee Communiqué, a crisis-focused Work Program (WP) is set out for May to October to help countries mitigate the crisis, restore stability, and prepare for a strong and sustainable recovery.
The WP implies a large increase in Board items compared with last year, reflecting mostly informal and more frequent updates on how this rapidly evolving crisis affects economic and financial developments and relevant policies.
Other work streams are delayed and will be included in the Board agenda once there is more clarity on how the evolution of the pandemic will impact crisis related work.

Crisis-focused prioritization to address immediate mitigation, stability restoration, and recovery preparation.
Increased frequency of Board items, largely informal updates on evolving economic and financial developments.
Deferred non-crisis work streams to be scheduled when pandemic evolution permits clearer planning.

Helping countries to mitigate the crisis.
Restoring economic and financial stability.
Preparing for a strong and sustainable recovery.
Aligning with strategic priorities from the Spring 2020 Global Policy Agenda and the International Monetary and Financial Committee Communiqué.

Unprecedented surge in demand for Fund support.
Strain on staff resources due to expanded crisis-related workload.
Large increase in Board items compared with last year, with emphasis on informal and frequent updates.
Delays to other work streams until greater clarity on pandemic impacts.