IMF releases

Here is the latest IMF releases:

Surveys

IMF Urges World Leaders to Counter Global Slowdown
IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn urges leaders of the G-20 industrialized and developing economies to take action to help counter the global economic slowdown as ministers from systemically important countries agreed on the need for a coordinated response.

Helping Ukraine Avoid a Hard Landing
A $16.4 billion loan for Ukraine approved by the IMF's Executive Board will help the government strengthen confidence and restore economic stability after the country became the latest victim of the financial crisis sweeping the global economy.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: On the Road to EU Accession
A new agreement signed by Bosnia and Herzegovina opens the door to membership of the European Union. But after years of solid growth and sound policies the country has to prepare for EU accession during a time of global economic turmoil.

IMF Outlines $7.6 Billion Loan for Pakistan
The IMF says it has reached an initial agreement with Pakistan on the key elements of an economic program supported by an $7.6 billion loan to meet the country's serious balance of payments difficulties.

World Leaders Launch Action Plan to Combat Financial Crisis
Leaders of the world's major economies draw up an action plan to combat the burgeoning financial crisis and pull the global economy back from one of the worst downturns in decades, giving the IMF a central role in crisis response and reform of the financial architecture.

Working Papers

StressTesting Household Debt in Korea
Author/Editor: Karasulu, Meral
Summary: Korean household debt has reached 148 percent of disposable income, high by emerging market standards. Most of this debt remains at variable rates, shifting the interest rate risk from better diversified financial institutions to households and increasing their sensitivity to macroeconomic shocks. This paper examines the sources of, and risks from, household debt by employing stress tests on household level panel data. Results suggest that a 100-300 bps increase in interest rates could increase distressed household debt household debt by 8½?17 percentage points (ppt). A drop in real estate prices by 10?30 percent could add another 4 ppt to distressed debt. Ongoing transition to amortizing mortgages in 2008?09 presents additional challenges as interest payments on debt are likely to increase further.


Sovereign Wealth Funds: Current Institutional and Operational Practices
Author/Editor: Hammer, Cornelia; Kunzel, Peter; Petrova, Iva
Summary: While SWFs as a group share broad common institutional and operational practices, these practices also differ considerably reflecting the diversity of these institutions. These differences derive from the nature of the SWF (i.e., their original intent) as well as its legal personality. Thus, while SWF practices will continue to evolve, the fundamental objectives of different types of SWFs will continue to shape their practices going forward.


Creating Sustainable Fiscal Space for Infrastructure: The Case of Tanzania
Author/Editor: Ter-Minassian, Teresa; Hughes, Richard; Hajdenberg, Alejandro
Summary: A common dilemma facing governments around the world is how to meet the sizeable fiscal costs of providing and maintaining infrastructure networks. Over the past decade, developed and developing countries have looked to fiscal rules, budgetary reforms, tax policy and administration measures, public-private partnerships and other innovative financial instruments to raise additional finance for infrastructure investment. This paper looks at the range of options for raising the financing to meet Tanzania's infrastructure needs. It begins with a brief survey of the evidence on the relationship between infrastructure, public investment, and economic growth, and then goes on to consider the case for additional infrastructure investment in Tanzania. The second part of the paper looks at five broad options for mobilizing additional resources to meet Tanzania's infrastructure needs: (i) direct private investment and PPPs, (ii) expenditure reprioritization and efficiency, (ii!
i) domestic revenue mobilization, (iv) external grants and concessional financing, and (v) sovereign borrowing on domestic or international credit markets. The paper concludes with some general recommendations on what combination of the above approaches might be suitable for Tanzania.

Policy Papers
A New Facility for Market Access Countries--The Short-Term Liquidity Facility
Summary: The ongoing financial market turmoil is remarkable for its severity but also for the speed with which shocks have spread across markets and economies. Disruptions in short-term funding in mature markets, deleveraging and contraction of bank balance sheets, and contagion from a systemic loss of confidence are leading rapidly to sharply reduced financial flows to economies far from the origins of the crisis. Market turbulence in advanced economies has thus led to the emergence of short-term external liquidity needs even in emerging market countries with strong underlying domestic policies.
In these circumstances, the Fund's traditional facilities may not always be the optimal means of addressing short-term balance of payments pressures. Stand-By Arrangements (SBAs) have been used flexibly to support members' economic programs where both policy adjustment and financing were needed to address underlying vulnerabilities, buttress market confidence, and facilitate a member's early return to market financing.
This paper proposes a special facility to complement existing instruments by filling a gap in the Fund's toolkit.

2008 Triennial Surveillance Review - Background Information and Statistical Appendix
Summary: Country surveillance constitutes an essential part of the IMF's mandate to oversee the international monetary system and to monitor the economic and financial policies of its 185 member countries. The IMF's Executive Board conducts regularly scheduled reviews of country surveillance (the Triennial Surveillance Review) to consider ways to improve its effectiveness. The 2008 review is the first such review since the Executive Board approved, in June 2007, a new Decision on Bilateral Surveillance. This Decision affirms that the focus of bilateral surveillance is on those policies of members that can significantly influence present or prospective external stability. The review focused on the implementation of country surveillance in the recent past, as presented in the following set of papers:

The overview paper presents the main findings and priority areas for further work.

The review finds that stakeholders hold the quality of IMF surveillance in high regard, but that improvements should focus on risk assessment, integration of macroeconomic and financial sector surveillance, multilateral perspectives (cross-border spillovers and cross-country analysis), and exchange rate assessments.
The priority areas identified in the review served as key background for the preparation of the IMF's Statement of Surveillance Priorities (SSP

The Thematic Findings (Supplement 1) provides supporting analysis on the implementation of bilateral surveillance in the recent past and, particularly, on the appropriateness of its focus and its analytical value added in particular areas, including the overall "health check", exchange rates, financial sector issues, cross-country analysis and cross-border spillover analysis (including a case study of surveillance in the run up to the subprime crisis), the degree of candor and evenhandedness in surveillance, and the effectiveness of its communication

The Background Information paper (Supplement 2) provides further information, including a description of review methodologies, and results including interview findings, surveys of various audiences, and supporting data on the quality of consultation documents

The External Consultant's Report provides an independent view of IMF surveillance in Europe.

Country Reports
Solomon Islands: 2008 Article IV Consultation-Staff Report; Staff Supplement; Public Information Notice on the Executive Board Discussion
Solomon Islands: Tax Summary and Statistical Appendix
People's Republic of China-Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes--FATF Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism