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A technical assistance (TA) mission was held with Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) between October 6-10, 2025. The objective of the mission was to provide assistance to Stats SA in the update to the energy accounts for the 2022 reference year, and guidance on finalizing related air emissions accounts. The mission reviewed the energy accounts and source data from the energy balances and provided recommendations on improving these data further. It also discussed with the authorities (Stats SA and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment) their joint progress on developing air emissions accounts. An action plan for the publication of the air emissions accounts and improvements in energy accounts was developed and agreed with the authorities. These initiatives are crucial for South Africa's climate policy formulation and international reporting obligations.
At the request of the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU), IMF technical assistance (TA) supported the authorities in strengthening monetary policy implementation and liquidity management under BCU’s inflation targeting framework. The work assessed how policy rate decisions transmit to overnight Uruguayan peso rates, central bank bill yields, deposit rates, and lending rates, and examined the role of term premia, liquidity conditions, and market depth in shaping the domestic currency yield curve. The engagement combined empirical analysis of money market rates, central bank bill auctions, liquidity conditions, reserve requirements, and pass-through dynamics with structured discussions with banks and other market participants. The analysis found that the BCU has achieved strong control of overnight peso rates, but that implementation remains operationally intensive in a shallow and highly dollarized financial system, where structural liquidity surplus, limited interbank activity, and frequent central bank fine-tuning operations constrain price discovery and the development of domestic currency money markets. The TA proposed a more predictable and market-oriented operating framework to deepen Uruguayan peso money markets and strengthen monetary transmission. Key recommendations included introducing a weekly fixed-rate full allotment seven-day operation at the policy rate, recalibrating the interest rate corridor, strengthening peso reserve requirement design and remuneration, modernizing liquidity forecasting, concentrating central bank bill issuance in standard maturities, improving auction transparency, and reinforcing institutional capacity for monetary operations and market development.
At the request of the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan (RMA), an IMF Financial Sector Stability Review (FSSR) mission visited Thimphu, and this technical assistance (TA) report highlights the main FSSR findings. The mission conducted a diagnostic review of the financial sector and proposed a Technical Assistance Roadmap (TARM) to support the authorities’ efforts to strengthen the identification, analysis, and mitigation of risks to financial stability in Bhutan. The RMA has rapidly progressed prudential regulation for the banking sector and must now shift its focus to strengthening supervisory capacity. Non-bank financial institutions play an important role in the financial sector, and with growing digital innovation, it is important authorities develop tailored regulation for the insurance sector and crypto markets, while refining the approach to e-money. Payment systems are advanced with significant progress in modernizing domestic payment systems, but cross-border payments can be improved. More granular collection of financial sector statistics can also support more dynamic tools for analyzing and monitoring systemic risks. The mission’s diagnostic review supports a TA plan. The main recommendations are summarized and the comprehensive TARM is provided in this paper.
Governments can protect vulnerable households, keep businesses open, and preserve price signals without straining public finances
Governments can protect vulnerable households, keep businesses open, and preserve price signals without straining public finances
Resilience, supervision, and international coordination are essential to safeguarding global financial markets as new AI tools enable attackers
Fiscal pressures in developing countries make stronger domestic revenue systems more important than ever
Shipping and flight disruptions highlight new fault lines in the global economy and their costs for growth and livelihoods
To weather the shock, policymakers should ensure that any near-term measures are time-bound and targeted at the most vulnerable, and maintain the focus on medium-term development objectives
