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| Article VIII, Section 5 | ||||
| Furnishing of Information | ||||
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The Acting Chair’s Summing Up—Review of Data Provision to the Fund for Surveillance Purposes, Executive Board Meeting 08/38, May 2, 2008 Executive Directors welcomed the opportunity to review progress in members’ provision of data to the Fund for surveillance purposes, and the expanded data list adopted under the 2004 Decision on Strengthening the Effectiveness of Article VIII, Section 5. Directors stressed that timely and good quality data are crucial to Fund surveillance. Directors agreed with the thrust of the staff paper’s analysis and findings, and broadly endorsed the staff’s recommendations. … Handling of Potential Breaches of Article VIII, Section 5 Directors stressed that members should abide by their obligation to provide the Fund with data covered under Article VIII, Section 5 to the best of their ability. They encouraged management and staff to address vigorously this responsibility of members, while emphasizing the importance of a cooperative approach and of paying due attention to capacity limitations. Directors noted that the approach followed in recent years has been largely effective in resolving concerns that members may not be sharing data to the best of their ability. They pointed, however, to the wide variance in staff’s handling of such cases as an area for improvement, and stressed that staff must follow up expeditiously in cases where concerns arise. They endorsed the proposal to clarify guidance to staff regarding steps to follow when there is a concern that a member may not be complying with Article VIII, Section 5, to ensure consistent and evenhanded treatment. In cases of non-provision of data, most Directors agreed that there should be no delay in implementing the formal procedures specified under the 2004 Decision—including the “letter stage” where management notifies the member of its intention to inform the Board of a breach of obligation—once the criteria for moving to the letter stage are met, namely where the data are not provided and the member appears to have the capacity to provide the data. However, some Directors emphasized that staff should take care not to move to the letter stage prematurely. In cases where there are concerns that data are being provided late or inaccurately, staff should prepare a plan and timetable for following up on these concerns, including moving to the letter stage when necessary. … Directors agreed that with the discussions today, the Board concluded the review of Annex A envisaged under the 2004 Decision, and that future reviews of Annex A should be conducted together with the reviews of data provision to the Fund for surveillance purposes. The next reviews are expected to be conducted in 2013, unless a need arises earlier. BUFF/08/57, May 12, 2008 | ||||
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