## Comprehensive Surveillance Review ## Source details **Canonical URL:** [Comprehensive Surveillance Review](https://www.imf.org/en/topics/comprehensive-surveillance-review) ## Other formats - [Markdown version](/en/topics/comprehensive-surveillance-review/index.md) - [Structured JSON version](/en/topics/comprehensive-surveillance-review/index.json) - [Bundle manifest](/en/topics/comprehensive-surveillance-review/bundle-manifest.json) --- ### Purpose and Goals - The IMF is adapting and strengthening its economic analysis of countries, known as surveillance, to help policymakers better prepare for a transforming economic landscape. - The review takes a broad and long view to: - Help policymakers respond to risks and uncertainty. - Protect global financial stability. - Strengthen inclusive growth. - Better understand interactions between the financial sector and the economy. ### Core Elements of IMF Surveillance - Article IV consultations will continue to cover fiscal, monetary, exchange rate and financial issues, which are at the heart of the Fund’s work. - Going forward, surveillance will give more timely and targeted policy advice on issues shaped by climate change, digital technology, inequality, and global events like the pandemic. - The review emphasizes selectivity and country-specific choices given the wide range of issues related to economic sustainability. ### Review Structure and Key Papers - The Comprehensive Surveillance Review comprises ten policy papers organized to set priorities and modalities for modernizing surveillance, plus background papers that examine specific priorities and tools. - Overview Paper: - Takes stock of the current economic and financial landscape and sets out four priorities. - Modalities for Modernizing Surveillance: - Calls for surveillance that is more targeted, topical and timely, better interconnected, and better informed. - Emphasizes tailoring policy advice, strengthening peer-learning, integrating macrofinancial analysis, and being supported by more and better data and tools. - Implementation will be characterized by experimentation and learning-by-doing. ### Background Papers — Surveillance Priorities and Analytical Focus - The Surveillance Priority Confronting Risks and Uncertainties: - Since the global financial crisis, staff reports regularly identify major risks and provide assessments summarized in Risk Assessment Matrices. - Proposes increased emphasis on the range of potential outcomes to improve policy design and more proactive policy advice on how to manage risks. - The Surveillance Priority Preempting and Mitigating Spillovers: - The IMF has a range of modalities and tools to cover spillovers. - Identifies scope to enhance synergies between global and country-specific spillover coverage and to foster cross-country dialogue, enabling more coordinated and evenhanded surveillance of spillovers. - The Surveillance Priority Ensuring Economic Sustainability: - Frames economic sustainability as central to the IMF’s mandate to maintain present and prospective balance of payments and domestic stability, assure orderly exchange arrangements, and promote a stable system of exchange rates. - Argues for a broad perspective and long time horizon while maintaining selectivity and case-by-case issue choices. - Integrating Climate Change into Article IV Consultations: - Notes IMF involvement in the climate debate since at least 2008. - Proposes a pragmatic approach focusing especially on mitigation efforts of the 20 largest emitters of greenhouse gases. - Systemic Risk and Macroprudential Policy Advice in Article IV Consultations: - Assesses progress in deepening and integrating systemic risk analysis and macroprudential policy advice in Article IV consultations, following up on the findings of the Independent Evaluation Office evaluation. - Traction: - Presents traction as a multidimensional concept and discusses approaches to measure the Fund’s value added to policy dialogue, formulation, and public debate in member countries. - Scenario Planning: - Uses scenario exercises to draw out surveillance priorities and stress test their robustness to uncertainties in the decade ahead. - Illustrates how different shocks and alternative policy approaches carry their own risks and can have both positive and negative spillovers. - Background Paper on Main Findings from The Stakeholder Surveys: - Presents key results from surveys of country authorities, IMF Executive Directors, and mission chiefs. - Identifies cross-cutting themes: Trends, Policy Challenges, Surveillance Priorities, Surveillance Modalities, and Traction. ### Guidance and Implementation Notes - Guidance Note for Surveillance Under Article IV Consultations — June 23, 2022: - Provides guidance to country teams for surveillance under Article IV consultations. - Supersedes the 2015 Guidance Note and its supplement. - Implements priorities identified by the 2021 Comprehensive Surveillance Review (CSR) in both content and modalities. - Supplement to the Guidance Note for Surveillance Under Article IV Consultations — February 8, 2021: - Provides updated guidance to country teams on bilateral surveillance in the context of Article IV consultations in light of the COVID crisis. - Affects the focus, format and presentation of staff reports while keeping intact the substance of all existing Board-endorsed requirements. ### Historical Context - 2021 Comprehensive Surveillance Review — May 18, 2021. - 2018 Interim Surveillance Review — April 17, 2018: - Found that Fund surveillance had become better adapted to the global conjuncture, and more integrated and risk-based. - Built on recommendations of the 2014 Triennial Surveillance Review (TSR), which focused on helping members navigate post-crisis challenges. --- ## References - [Overview Paper](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2021/05/18/2021-Comprehensive-Surveillance-Review-Overview-Paper-460270) - [Modalities for Modernizing Surveillance](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2021/05/18/2021-Comprehensive-Surveillance-Review-Modalities-for-Modernizing-Surveillance-460273) - [The Surveillance Priority Confronting Risks and Uncertainties](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2021/05/18/2021-Comprehensive-Surveillance-Review-Background-Paper-on-The-Surveillance-Priority-460276) - [The Surveillance Priority Preempting and Mitigating Spillovers](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2021/05/18/2021-Comprehensive-Surveillance-Review-Background-Paper-on-The-Surveillance-Priority-460297) - [The Surveillance Priority Ensuring Economic Sustainability](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2021/05/18/2021-Comprehensive-Surveillance-Review-Background-Paper-on-The-Surveillance-Priority-460300) - [Integrating Climate Change into Article IV Consultations](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2021/05/18/2021-Comprehensive-Surveillance-Review-Background-Paper-on-Integrating-Climate-Change-into-460303) - [Systemic Risk and Macroprudential Policy Advice in Article IV Consultations](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2021/05/18/2021-Comprehensive-Surveillance-Review-Background-Paper-on-Systemic-Risk-and-460306) - [Traction](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2021/05/18/2021-Comprehensive-Surveillance-Review-Background-Paper-on-Traction-460309) - [Scenario Planning](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2021/05/18/2021-Comprehensive-Surveillance-Review-Background-Paper-on-Scenario-Planning-460340) - [Background Paper on Main Findings from The Stakeholder Surveys](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2021/05/18/2021-Comprehensive-Surveillance-Review-Background-Paper-on-Main-Findings-from-The-460343) _Source: https://www.imf.org/en/topics/comprehensive-surveillance-review_