Capacity Development
Strengthening the capacity of institutions—including central banks, finance ministries, revenue administrations, statistical agencies, and financial sector supervisory agencies—results in more effective policies and greater economic stability and inclusion. The IMF works with countries to modernize their economic policies and strengthen these institutions by providing technical assistance and training focused on issues that are critical to economic stability and growth.
Capacity Development Spending as a Share of Major IMF Activities
FY 2021
Overview
The IMF provides capacity development—hands-on technical assistance, policy-oriented training, and peer-learning opportunities—to help countries build sustainable and resilient institutions. These efforts are an important contribution to countries’ progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The IMF has a number of development partners that support more than half its capacity development work, including to help fund the first phase of the IMF’s COVID-19 CD Initiative to build forward better and work toward a greener, smarter, and more equitable future.
Capacity development focuses on the IMF’s core areas of expertise, such as public finances, financial sector stability, and economic statistics. The IMF also provides CD in cross-cutting issues, such as income inequality, gender equality, corruption, and climate change, within its areas of expertise. The IMF is uniquely positioned to support its membership with its global reach, institutional experience, and world-class expertise. The IMF’s capacity development activities benefit all members, but support is particularly targeted and tailored to fragile states.
At the request of country authorities, IMF country teams and technical experts develop and implement an integrated work plan tailored to countries’ specific needs. The IMF works with countries through a global network of 17 regional centers; the newest center, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia Regional Capacity Development Center (CCAMTAC), opened virtually in February 2021. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IMF has provided real-time policy advice and capacity development to more than 175 countries.
Capacity Development Spending as a Share of Major IMF Activities
FY 2021
The IMF published more than 80 technical notes on crisis-related policy issues during the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis. It also helped countries strengthen their collection and publication of economic data to improve economic decision-making and boost transparency. As countries ramped up emergency spending, the IMF helped strengthen their governance frameworks to better ensure that money quickly reached those most in need and that governments were accountable for how they spent the money.
The IMF quickly adapted its capacity development delivery tools to the new remote environment imposed by the pandemic. It has continued to help its members address new challenges such as finding digital solutions for direct cash transfers as well as for tax compliance and revenue collection, protecting health expenditures and other social spending, and preparing for the challenges posed by climate change. Participation in the IMF’s free online courses has increased sharply.
The IMF Online Learning Program: A Global Public Good
The IMF’s online learning program has played an important role in serving the needs of our membership during the COVID-19 crisis.
Over the past year, participation in the program has increased significantly, and more than 7,000 government officials have successfully completed an IMF course. In April 2020, the IMF Institute Learning Channel was launched on YouTube, offering bite-sized microlearning videos in various areas of IMF expertise. Since the channel’s inception, this new and agile modality of learning has attracted more than 4,400 subscribers and 233,000 individual views.
The online curriculum continues to be enriched in key areas of global interest. A new series of five courses on public debt analysis, sustainability, and management launched in 2020, including a course on the Joint World Bank–IMF Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries LIC DSFx, developed with the World Bank. New courses on macroeconomic statistics (GFSx, BOPx) are now available, together with six new translations of online courses. An inclusive growth course (IGx), together with courses on revenue forecasting (RFAx) and tax administration (VITARA) were launched from April to June 2021.
All courses on the edX platform—used for the IMF’s online learning program—are available anytime, anywhere, and at no cost, which makes the program a global public good, spearheading knowledge and skills for a more sustainable and inclusive global economy.
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for hands-on technical advice, policy-oriented training, and peer learning
technical assistance visits involving 1,275 experts
fragile states among the top 10 recipients of technical assistance
courses delivered
training languages offered
officials trained
Top 10 Partners for IMF Capacity Development
(Signed agreements in US dollars, average, FY 2019–21)- Japan
- European Union
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- Netherlands
- Switzerland
- Norway
- Korea
- Kazakhstan
- Canada
Top 10 Recipients of IMF Technical Assistance
(FY 2017–21 average, US dollars spending)- Myanmar
- Ukraine
- Liberia
- Mozambique
- Mongolia
- Sierra Leone
- Sri Lanka
- Uganda
- Guinea
- Cambodia
Top 10 Recipients by Training Participation
(FY 2017–21 average, participant weeks)- India
- China
- Nigeria
- Indonesia
- Cambodia
- Uganda
- Zimbabwe
- Egypt
- Philippines
- Ghana
