Title Page
BUILD FORWARD BET TER
IMF ANNUAL REPORT 2021
A recovery is underway
A recovery is underway, but the economic fallout from the global pandemic could be with us for years to come.
With the crisis exacerbating prepandemic vulnerabilities, country prospects are diverging. Nearly half of emerging market and developing economies and some middle-income countries are now at risk of falling further behind, undoing much of the progress made toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Within countries, inequality is on the rise as well; workers with fewer skills, youth, women, and those informally employed are suffering disproportionate income losses.
Sustaining the recovery will require an ongoing policy push, including to secure and expand access to vaccines and to maintain economic lifelines and targeted policy support, tailored to the stage of the pandemic, the strength of the economic recovery, and countries’ structural characteristics. Multilateral cooperation will be vital to ensure all countries have equitable access to vaccines and financially constrained economies have adequate access to international liquidity.
As the recovery progresses, economic reforms and public investments in human capital and green and digital infrastructure should be scaled up to facilitate resource reallocation and limit long-term scarring. By building toward a more inclusive, digital, and green future, the world’s economies can achieve higher and more durable growth.
Message From The Managing Director
Dear Reader,
More than a year into a crisis like no other, we have mobilized a response like no other.
As of the end of April, the IMF had approved loans to 86 countries totaling more than $110 billion since the onset of the pandemic—a record number. The August 2021 approval of a new allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) is another unprecedented action. At $650 billion, this is the largest allocation in the IMF’s history, and it will substantially boost the reserves and liquidity of the IMF’s member countries, without adding to their debt burdens. We are also exploring options for those with strong financial positions to voluntarily channel SDRs to vulnerable countries.
Together with the swift and extraordinary measures taken by governments and central banks, these actions helped put a foor under the global economy in the early stages of the crisis and provided the basis for the emerging recovery. But this recovery is on two tracks: economic fortunes across countries are diverging dangerously, driven by dramatic differences in access to vaccines and the scope to provide policy support. While advanced economies are bouncing back, the crisis is deepening for many emerging market and developing economies.
The most urgent task remains to get the world vaccinated as quickly as possible. In May, IMF staff put forward a $50 billion plan that targets vaccinating at least 40 percent of the population in all countries by the end of 2021, and 60 percent by the first half of 2022—an investment that would boost global economic activity by trillions of dollars over the next few years.
Closing this gap is key to ending the pandemic and ensuring a sustainable long-term recovery everywhere.
A second immediate priority is helping countries deal with growing public debt burdens. High levels of debt heading into the crisis left many low-income countries more vulnerable and continues to limit their ability to provide much-needed policy support. We expanded concessional financing for low-income countries and provided debt relief to 29 of our poorest members, giving them some breathing space. But more needs to be done, including through the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments, which the IMF is actively supporting.
Finally, the world needs to seize the opportunity to build forward better. We must put in place policies that not only strengthen the near-term recovery, but transformative policies that provide a foundation for a greener, more digital and inclusive global economy of tomorrow. More than ever we see the profound implications climate change has for macroeconomic performance and financial stability, and we are putting these critical aspects of climate action at the core of our work.
This Annual Report highlights the IMF’s work and coverage in these areas, through policy advice, lending, and capacity development. Along with the unstinting efforts of our staff, it emphasizes the work of the IMF’s Executive Board, whose guidance and oversight are central to our efforts to ensure global financial stability and growth.
Much about this pandemic and our response has been unprecedented, but our founding values—centered on global cooperation and support for our 190 member countries—endure.
KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA
MANAGING DIRECTOR
About the IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 190 countries working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world. The IMF’s primary mission is to ensure the stability of the international monetary system: the system of exchange rates and international payments that enables countries and their citizens to transact with one another. All IMF member countries are represented on its Executive Board, which discusses the national, regional, and global consequences of each member’s economic policies and approves IMF financing to help member countries address temporary balance of payments problems, as well as oversees the IMF’s capacity development (CD) efforts. This Annual Report covers the activities of the Executive Board and IMF management and staff during the financial year (FY) May 1, 2020, through April 30, 2021, unless noted otherwise. The contents reflect the views and policy discussions of the IMF Executive Board, which has actively participated in the preparation of this Annual Report.
On April 30, 2021, the SDR/US dollar exchange rate was
US$1 = SDR 0.696385
The IMF’s financial year is May 1 through April 30. The analysis and policy considerations expressed in this publication are those of the IMF Executive Directors. The IMF’s unit of account is the special drawing right (SDR); conversions of IMF financial data to US dollars are approximate and provided for convenience. On April 30, 2021, the SDR/US dollar exchange rate was US$1 = SDR 0.696385, and the US dollar/SDR exchange rate was SDR 1 = US$1.43599. The year-earlier rates (April 30, 2020) were US$1 = SDR 0.731849 and SDR 1 = US$1.36640. “Billion” means a thousand million; “trillion” means a thousand billion; minor discrepancies between constituent figures and totals are due to rounding. As used in this Annual Report, the term “country” does not in all cases refer to a territorial entity that is a state as understood by international law and practice. As used here, the term also covers some territorial entities that are not states but for which statistical data are maintained on a separate and independent basis. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and any other information shown on any maps do not imply on the part of the IMF any judgment on the legal status of any territory or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
the US dollar/SDR exchange rate was
SDR 1 = US$1.43599
The IMF’s three main roles
Economic surveillance
Provide member countries with advice on adopting policies to achieve macroeconomic stability, accelerate economic growth, and alleviate poverty.
Lending
Make financing available to member countries to help address balance of payments problems, including foreign exchange shortages that occur when external payments exceed foreign exchange earnings.
Capacity development
Deliver capacity development (including technical assistance and training), when requested, to help member countries strengthen their economic institutions to design and implement sound economic policies.
IMF headquarters is in Washington, DC, and its offces around the world aim to promote the IMF’s global reach and maintain close ties with its members. For more information on the IMF and its member countries, visit
Acronyms and Abbreviations
| AE | advanced economy |
| BBA | bilateral borrowing agreement |
| CCAMTAC | Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia Regional Capacity Development Center |
| CCRT | Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust |
| CD | capacity development |
| COVID-19 | disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 |
| DSSI | Debt Service Suspension Initiative |
| ECF | Extended Credit Facility |
| EFF | Extended Fund Facility |
| EM | emerging market |
| FCL | Flexible Credit Line |
| FSAP | Financial Sector Assessment Program |
| FY | financial year |
| G20 | Group of Twenty |
| GRA | General Resources Account |
| HIPC | Heavily Indebted Poor Countries |
| ICD | Institute for Capacity Development |
| IEO | Independent Evaluation Office |
| IMF | International Monetary Fund |
| IT | information technology |
| LIC | low-income country |
| LIDC | low-income developing country |
| NAB | New Arrangements to Borrow |
| PLL | Precautionary and Liquidity Line |
| PRGT | Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust |
| PRS | Poverty Reduction Strategy |
| RCF | Rapid Credit Facility |
| RFI | Rapid Financing Instrument |
| SBA | Stand-By Arrangement |
| SCF | Standby Credit Facility |
| SDR | special drawing right |
| SLL | Short-Term Liquidity Line |
| UCT | upper credit tranche |
Build Forward Better
Part One: No Time to Let Up
COVID-19
The Great Divergence
Debt Dynamics
Toward a Green, Inclusive, and Digital Future
Part Two: What We Do
Economic Surveillance
Lending
Capacity Development
Part Three: Who We Are
Executive Directors
Management Team
Resources
Accountability
Corporate Social Responsibility
