CHAPTER 8 IMF Organization, Staffing, and Budget
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International Monetary Fund
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Print Publication Date:
15 Sep 2000
Keywords:
AR; AREA; country; IMF surveillance; Directors; price; IMF policy advice; IMF department; IMF's work; adjustment program; IMF arrangement; Budget planning and preparation; Capital budget; Human capital; Poverty reduction strategy; Western Hemisphere; Asia and Pacific; Middle East
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Abstract

Financial year 2000 saw several important staffing and organizational changes, most notably the changes in the IMF’s management team. On November 9, 1999, Managing Director Michel Camdessus announced his intention to resign in early 2000, after 13 years of service. This led the Executive Board to embark on a process to name his replacement, which culminated with the Board’s selection of Horst Köhler, a German national, on March 23, 2000. Prior to this, on December 14, 1999, Eduardo Aninat, then-Finance Minister of Chile, assumed office for a five-year term as Deputy Managing Director, to replace Alassane D. Ouattara, who left the IMF at the end of his appointment on July 31, 1999.

Financial year 2000 saw several important staffing and organizational changes, most notably the changes in the IMF’s management team. On November 9, 1999, Managing Director Michel Camdessus announced his intention to resign in early 2000, after 13 years of service. This led the Executive Board to embark on a process to name his replacement, which culminated with the Board’s selection of Horst Köhler, a German national, on March 23, 2000. Prior to this, on December 14, 1999, Eduardo Aninat, then-Finance Minister of Chile, assumed office for a five-year term as Deputy Managing Director, to replace Alassane D. Ouattara, who left the IMF at the end of his appointment on July 31, 1999.

On the organizational front, in FY2000, IMF internal service functions were reorganized into two departments to facilitate the planning, streamlining, and efficiency of services and to create a separate human resources department. As to the Administrative Budget, the Executive Board saw justification for additional staffing and other resources to carry out the new initiatives—work on various aspects of strengthening the global financial architecture, the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, and the enhanced Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs)–while maintaining the IMF’s capacity to implement its core work program.

Organization

The IMF consists of a Board of Governors, an Executive Board, a Managing Director, a First Deputy Managing Director, two Deputy Managing Directors, and a staff of international civil servants. The institution’s founding Articles of Agreement require that staff appointed to the IMF demonstrate the highest standards of efficiency and technical competence and reflect the organization’s diverse membership.

Executive Board

The IMF’s 24-member Executive Board, as the IMF’s permanent decision-making organ, conducts the institution’s day-to-day business. In 1999, the Board held 137 formal meetings, 6 seminars, and 6 informal sessions. The Executive Board carries out its work largely on the basis of papers prepared by IMF management and staff. In 1999, the Board spent 59 percent of its time on member country matters (Article IV consultations and reviews and approvals of IMF arrangements); 29 percent of its time on multilateral surveillance and policy issues (world economic outlook, developments in international capital markets, IMF financial resources, the architecture of the international monetary system, the debt situation, and issues related to IMF lending facilities and program design); and its remaining time on administrative and other matters.

Departments

The IMF staff is organized mainly into departments with regional (or area), functional, information and liaison, and support responsibilities (Figure 8.1). These departments are headed by directors who report to the Managing Director.

Area Departments

Six area departments–African, Asia and Pacific, European I, European II, Middle Eastern, and Western Hemisphere—advise management and the Executive Board on economic developments and policies in countries in their region. Their staffs are responsible also for reaching understandings on arrangements for the use of IMF financial resources and review performance under IMFsupported arrangements. Together with relevant functional departments, they provide member countries with policy advice and technical assistance, and maintain contact with regional organizations and multilateral institutions in their geographic areas. Supplemented by staff in functional departments, area departments carry out much of the IMF’s country surveillance work through direct contacts with member countries. In addition, 75 area department staff are assigned to members as IMF resident representatives (see Box 8.1).

Functional and Special Services Departments

The Fiscal Affairs Department is responsible for activities involving public finance in member countries. It participates in area department missions on fiscal issues, reviews the fiscal content of IMF policy advice and IMF-supported adjustment programs, and provides technical assistance in public finance. It also conducts research and policy studies on fiscal issues, as well as on income distribution and poverty, social safety nets, public expenditure policy issues, and the environment.

The IMF Institute provides training for officials of member countries—particularly developing countries—in such areas as financial programming and policy, external sector policies, balance of payments methodology, national accounts and government finance statistics, and public finance.

The Legal Department advises management, the Board, and the staff on the applicable rules of law. It prepares most of the decisions and other legal instruments necessary for the IMF’s activities. The department serves as counsel to the IMF in litigation and arbitration cases, provides technical assistance on legislative reform, responds to inquiries from national authorities and international organizations on the laws of the IMF, and arrives at legal findings regarding IMF jurisdiction on exchange measures and restrictions.

The Monetary and Exchange Affairs Department provides analytical and technical support, including development and dissemination of good policies and best practices, to member countries and area departments on issues related to financial sector systems and soundness—including prudential regulation, supervision, and systemic restructuring; central banking, monetary, and exchange policies and instruments; and capital flows and exchange measures and systems. In surveillance activities and requests for the use of IMF resources, the department reviews issues related to its areas of competence and provides its expertise in policy assessment and development. It also delivers and administers technical assistance in these areas, coordinating with collaborating central banks, supervisory agencies, and other international organizations.

The Policy Development and Review Department traditionally plays a central role in the design and implementation of IMF financial facilities and operations; in recent years, it has spearheaded the IMF’s work in the area of strengthening the architecture of the international financial system. Together with the Research Department, it takes the lead also in multilateral surveillance, policy coordination, and associated review and support activities. With area departments, the Policy Development and Review Department helps mobilize other financial resources for member countries using IMF resources, including work on debt and program financing (through the Paris Club and international banks).

The Research Department conducts policy analysis and research in areas relating to the IMF’s work. The department plays a prominent role in developing IMF policy concerning the international monetary system and surveillance and cooperates with other departments in formulating IMF policy advice to member countries. It coordinates the semiannual World Economic Outlook exercise and prepares the annual International Capital Markets report, as well as analysis for the surveillance discussions of the Group of Seven, Group of Twenty, and such regional groupings as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and the Executive Board’s seminars on World Economic and Market Developments. The department also maintains contacts with the academic community and with other research organizations.

IMF Resident Representatives

At the end of April 2000, the IMF had 75 resident representatives covering 79 member countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Western Hemisphere. These posts—usually filled by one staff member—enhance IMF policy advice and are often set up in conjunction with an IMF-supported reform program. The representatives, who typically have good access to key national policymakers, can have a major impact on the quality of IMF country work. In particular, resident representatives alert the IMF and the host country to potential policy slippage and provide on-site program support. They can also play an active role in IMF outreach in member countries. Resident representatives are helping countries develop their poverty reduction strategies (see Chapter 5): they participate and present IMF perspectives in country-led discussions on the strategy, and support monitoring of its implementation, working with different branches of government, civil society organizations, donors, and other stakeholders.

The Statistics Department maintains databases of country, regional, and global economic and financial statistics and reviews country data in support of the IMF’s surveillance role. It is also responsible for developing statistical concepts in balance of payments, government finance, and monetary and financial statistics, as well as producing methodological manuals. The department provides technical assistance and training to help members develop statistical systems and produces the IMF’s statistical publications. In addition, it is responsible for developing and maintaining standards for the dissemination of data by member countries.

The Treasurer’s Department formulates the IMF’s financial policies and practices; conducts and controls financial operations and transactions in the General Department, SDR Department, and Administered Accounts, controls expenditures under the Administrative and Capital Budgets; and maintains IMF accounts and financial records. The department’s responsibilities also include quota reviews, IMF financing and liquidity, borrowing, investments, the IMF’s income, and operational policies on the SDR.

Figure 8.1
Figure 8.1

IMF Organization Chart

Note: Organization as of April 30, 20001Attached to the Office of the Managing Director

Information and Liaison

The External Relations Department edits, produces, and distributes the IMF’s nonstatistical publications; provides information services to the press and general public; maintains contacts with nongovernmental organizations and parliamentary bodies; drafts speeches for management; and manages the IMF’s website (see also Appendix V).

The IMF’s Offices for Asia and the Pacific, in Europe, in Geneva, and at the United Nations maintain close contacts with other international and regional institutions (see Appendix IV).

Support Services

As noted in last year’s Annual Report, effective July 1, 1999, most IMF service functions were reorganized into two new departments:

The new Technology and General Services Department manages and delivers a full range of services essential for the IMF’s operation. These include information services (information technology, telecommunications, document management, and library services); facilities and general administrative services (facilities management, building projects, travel management, graphics, and procurement services); and language services (translation, interpretation, and foreign language publications). Bringing these services under one department facilitates planning for the IMF’s future requirements; increases efficiency through reducing some overlapping in related functions; and helps develop and apply common instruments for measuring and assessing services. It thus allows more informed judgment and trade-offs in decisions about budgetary resources to meet service requirements.

The new Human Resources Department has been organized along the same lines as the former personnel function with a front office and four divisions to manage recruitment, staff development, benefits, and compensation and job grading. The IMF faces significant challenges in the period ahead to maintain a lean, highly motivated, well-trained, and diverse staff to meet the needs of its members. The establishment of a stand-alone Human Resources Department will have clear advantages in allowing the new department to focus exclusively on the important human resource function.

The Secretary’s Department organizes the work of the IMF’s governing bodies and provides secretariat services to them. In particular, it assists management in preparing and coordinating the work program of the Executive Board and other official bodies, including scheduling and assisting in the conduct of Board meetings. The department also manages the Annual Meetings, in cooperation with the World Bank.

The IMF’s offices and secretariats are responsible for internal auditing and evaluation, work practices, budget matters, technical assistance, and investments under the staff retirement plan.

Staff

The Managing Director appoints a staff whose sole responsibility is to the IMF, whose efficiency and technical competence are to be of the “highest standards,” and whose diversity—reflecting its membership—is to give “due regard to the importance of recruiting personnel on as wide a geographical basis as possible.” To this end, and to provide the continuity and institutional memory necessary to maintain a good and close working relationship with member countries, the IMF’s employment policy is designed to recruit and retain a corps of international civil servants interested in spending a career, or a significant part of a career, at the IMF. At the same time, the IMF recognizes the value of shorter-term employment and recruitment of mid-career professionals consistent with the changing labor market and the benefit of fresh perspectives. And, in the case of a number of skills and jobs—relating mainly to technology, certain services, and highly specialized skills in economics–business considerations have called for shorter-term appointments or for outsourcing activities.

As of December 31, 1999, the IMF had 2,297 employees: 693 assistant staff and 1,604 professional staff (approximately two-thirds of whom were economists). In addition, the IMF had 444 contractual employees, which include experts, consultants, and other short-term staff, charged to nonregular resources. Of the IMF’s 182 member countries, 127 were represented on the staff. (See also “Diversity” below.)

During FY2000, 3,082 staff-years were expended in the IMF, compared with 3,006 in FY1999. Included in the FY2000 total were 2,069 regular staff-years (1,990 in FY1999), supplemented by other resources, including Economist Program staff, overtime, and contractual and other temporary staff-years for a total of 2,728 staff years (2,641 in FY1999); 233 staff-years for the Office of Executive Directors (as in FY1999); and 121 staff years for externally financed technical assistance experts and related overhead resources (132 in FY1999).

For FY2001, the Executive Board approved a net increase of 108 new authorized staff positions.

Recruitment and Retention

Over the course of 1999, 218 new staff members joined the organization (104 economists, 41 in professional and managerial grades in specialized career streams, and 73 assistants)–an increase of 48 over the 170 staff members hired in 1998. Of the new hires in 1999, 67 were mid-career economists and 37 entered the Economist Program—a two-year program aimed at familiarizing “entry-level” economists with the work of the IMF by placing them in two different IMF departments each for a 12-month period. Candidates for the Economist Program typically are completing a Ph.D. in macroeconomics or a related field, or have already finished their graduate studies and have one or two years’ work experience. Economist Program participants who perform well during the two-year period are offered regular staff appointments.

During 1999, 128 staff separated from the organization. The separation rate of staff in professional and managerial grades declined to 5.9 percent (92 staff) in 1999 from highs of 8.1 percent (122 staff) in 1998 and 7.0 percent (104 staff) in 1997. The high turnover in 1997 and 1998 was largely the result of a sudden and sharp rise in resignations of economists joining private sector financial firms and a larger number of retirements, including those encouraged by incentives. The turnover rate in 1999 for staff in professional and managerial grades returned to the medium-term average (excluding 1997 and 1998) of 5.2 percent.

Stress on IMF Staff

Excessive work-related stress among IMF staff has grown steadily in recent years as a result of both internal and external expectations. Internally, a hard-driving work style, a need for more attention to the management of human resources, and the failure to provide sufficient additional resources—or reprioritize existing activities—when additional items are added to the work program have contributed to excessive stress. Most prominent among the external factors are the constant addition of new tasks for the IMF, given its need to adapt to the changing global economic environment.

Directors have expressed concerns about the heavy work pressures in the IMF, and at the end of 1999 a Working Group on Stress, appointed by management, submitted a report proposing a practical plan for reducing negative stress. Also, the IMF’s Office of Internal Audit and Inspection completed, in March 2000, a review of personnel management practices in IMF departments. Finally, a survey by the IMF’s Staff Association Committee suggested measures to address stress related to staff participating in missions to member countries. Building on these recommendations, the Human Resources Department prepared a comprehensive framework for introducing and monitoring stress reducing initiatives:

  • defining more clearly the work of the institution as a whole;

  • finding new ways to prepare and prioritize the IMF’s work program and ensure that departments have sufficient resources to meet work demands;

  • finding new ways to prepare and prioritize the IMF’s work program and ensure that departments have sufficient resources to meet work demands;

  • improving managerial practices, which would entail adding staff resources and funding for specialized personnel, work program management, and budget management in departments and raising managerial training in the IMF to standards observed elsewhere;

  • providing for more flexible work arrangements; and

  • giving staff more information on how to deal with the stress they experience.

To recruit and retain the staff it needs, the IMF has developed a compensation and benefits system designed to be competitive, to reward performance, and to take account of the special needs of a multinational and largely expatriate staff. The IMF’s staff salary structure is reviewed and, if warranted, adjusted annually on the basis of a comparison with salaries paid by selected private financial and industrial firms and public sector organizations in the United States, France, and Germany. On the basis of updated analyses of comparator salaries, the salary structure was increased by 4.1 percent for FY2000, and the Board approved an increase of 4.5 percent for FY2001 (see Table 8.1 for the IMF staff salary structure).

Table 8.1

IMF Salary Structure, effective May 1, 20001

(In U.S. dollars)

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The salary structure for IMF staff is intended to be internationally competitive to enable the IMF to secure highly qualified staff from all member countries. Salaries are reviewed annually by the Executive Board. The salaries are kept in line with the salaries for equivalent grades and positions in private sector financial and industrial firms and in representative public sector agencies, mainly in the United States. Because IMF staff other than U.S. citizens are usually not required to pay income tax on their IMF compensation, the salaries are set on a net-of-tax basis, which is generally equivalent to the after-tax take-home pay of the employees of the public and private sector firms from which IMF salaries are derived.

Table 8.2

Nationality Distribution of Professional Staff by Region

(In percent)

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Regions are defined on the basis of the country distribution of the IMF’s area departments. The European region includes countries in both the European I and European II Departments. The Middle East region includes countries in North Africa.

The Baltics, Russia, and other countries of the former Soviet Union.

Management Remuneration

In mid-1999, the Executive Board established a Working Group on Management Remuneration to review and consider possible changes in the system for determining the remuneration of the Managing Director of the IMF. The Working Group was chaired by Executive Director Thomas A. Bernes; other members were Executive Directors Sulaiman M. Al-Turki, Roberto F. Cippa, Riccardo Faini, Stephen Pickford, and Hernan Oyarzabal.

The Working Group’s formation was prompted by concerns that the prevailing process, in which the remuneration of the IMF’s four management positions was considered separately and at different times, did not allow Executive Directors to take a comprehensive or integrated view of the compensation of the management team and staff, or to establish and maintain over time an appropriate and consistent structure of management remuneration. Also, the components of the Managing Director’s remuneration—the base salary and the representation allowance—had become unbalanced, with too large a share of total remuneration provided through the allowance.

The proposals of the Working Group were considered by the Executive Board in March 2000. The Board approved the Working Group’s proposal to maintain the total remuneration of the new Managing Director, Horst Köhler, at $363,660–the same as for his predecessor, Michel Camdessus. Total remuneration will consist of a salary of $308,460 and an allowance of $55,200, reflecting a reduction relative to the previous Managing Director’s allowance and a corresponding increase in salary. These amounts will be held constant in real terms throughout the five-year term of appointment through annual adjustments.

To appropriately reflect the responsibilities of each management position and the relationship between the management and staff salary structures, the salary structure for management, as of May 1, 2000, will be the following:1

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The new management pay structure will be subject to a combination of periodic structural reviews by the Executive Board and annual revisions. It will be autonomous and not formally linked to remuneration in other international organizations.

At the same time as the new Managing Director’s contract was approved, the Board endorsed other recommendations of the Working Group, among them, the need for greater public transparency on management remuneration. Therefore, details on total remuneration of IMF management will be included in the IMF’s Annual Report, beginning with this edition.

Executive Board Remuneration

Upon the recommendation of the Board of Governors’ Committee on the Remuneration of Executive Directors, the Governors approved from July 1, 1999, increases of 3.5 percent in the remuneration of Executive Directors and 4.1 percent in the remuneration of Alternates. The remuneration of Executive Directors is $160,630, consisting of a salary of $151,630 and a supplemental allowance of $9,000. The remuneration of Alternate Executive Directors is $138,140, consisting of a salary of $130,940 and a supplemental allowance of $7,200.2

Table 8.3

Gender Distribution of Staff

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Includes only staff on duty.

The Executive Board continued to emphasize staff diversity as an important asset for improving the IMF’s effectiveness as an international institution. The IMF’s Special Advisor on Diversity, who reports to the Managing Director, designed a number of initiatives and indicators to strengthen and monitor nationality and gender diversity (Tables 8.2 and 8.3), as well as diversity management in the organization. The Special Advisor works closely with departments to identify needs and opportunities for promoting diversity and implementing departmental action plans, which have been prepared and monitored annually since 1996. In FY2000, departments continued to implement these plans, which typically included measures to help ensure grade and salary equity, initiatives in recruitment and career development, orientation and mentoring programs for newcomers, measures to improve communication and increase the transparency of information, and promotion of family- friendly work arrangements.

In addition, the IMF is placing greater emphasis on people management skills in the performance assessment of supervisors and in promotion decisions, which are of particular importance in an institution with a diverse workforce.

The departmental annual progress reports submitted to the Managing Director in FY2000 showed consistent improvements in diversity awareness, systematic effort, and management practices. Progress had been achieved in the recruitment, promotion, and overall representation of underrepresented staff groups and those earlier identified as having unequal career opportunities relative to others. These favorable trends were most visible among junior level staff. Only with persistent effort will the balance improve at managerial levels. Achieving satisfactory diversity of staff in an institution that emphasizes career employment is a goal that will necessarily take time to achieve.

The IMF’s Administrative and Capital Budgets are considered in the context of rolling three-year and five-year medium-term budget plans that are reviewed each year by the Executive Board. During the period just prior to the Fall 1999 Annual Meetings, the Executive Board discussed and agreed on several new policy initiatives, which were then endorsed by the International Monetary and Financial Committee. The major new initiatives added to the IMF’s agenda were:

  • the establishment of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) as the basis for concessional lending under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (which replaced the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility); and the enhancement of the joint World Bank-IMF HIPC Initiative;

  • the Financial Sector Assessment Program, also jointly with the World Bank; and

  • work on international standards and codes, carried out with the active involvement of international organizations—including the World Bank—and a number of other standard-setting agencies.

In addition, Directors recognized that enhancements were needed in some of the IMF’s traditional program activities, including surveillance, technical assistance, and external communications.

The five-year plan for the Capital Budget remained consistent with the strategy to continue and finalize the major building projects already approved (see below) and to continue with other capital investments that would result in cost savings—or that are required to comply with building codes or maintain existing buildings and equipment inventory.

Medium-Term Plans

Given the major new initiatives, establishing a framework for the IMF for the medium term posed challenges in terms of the magnitude of additional resources needed in the immediate future against the uncertainties about subsequent years. The planning began in early November 1999 with a series of meetings of the Committee on the Budget to consider the medium-term plans and resource implications of a number of initiatives already agreed upon in principle, and that were in their early stages of implementation. The planning process culminated in Board meetings in January and February 2000, at which Directors agreed there was justification for additional staffing and other resources in order to carry out the new initiatives without further aggravating work pressures on the staff. Given the uncertainty surrounding the world economic situation, and the difficulty in estimating resource needs for new activities, Executive Directors focused on the period immediately ahead. Against this background, the IMF’s major budget objectives for FY2001 are to:

  • Maintain and enhance its capacity to carry out the IMF’s core work program—namely, surveillance, lending, and technical assistance.

  • Equip the organization to handle the new and expanded activities needed to improve the functioning of the international financial system—in particular, to increase transparency and improve the IMF’s outreach to member countries, markets, and others; promote financial sector soundness and transparency in monetary and fiscal policies, standards, and data dissemination—as well as to play a role in promoting growth and poverty reduction in the poor countries eligible for the enhanced HIPC Initiative and the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility.

  • Continue to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of IMF internal operations in the face of increasing demands, by streamlining internal work procedures, sharing tasks where possible with other organizations, and improving management of the staff’s workload.

Budgets and Expenditure in FY2000

The IMF’s Administrative Budget for the financial year ended April 30, 2000 (FY2000) was approved at $575.8 million, net of reimbursements, and revised by a supplementary appropriation in January 2000 to $585.1 million, net of reimbursements. For the Capital Budget, $67.3 million was approved for projects beginning in FY2000 ($18.0 million for building facility projects, $29.3 million for electronic data processing (EDP) and information technology projects, and $20.0 million for the new building design and preconstruction). The estimated cost of major IMF activities is shown in Table 8.4. Actual administrative expenditures during the year totaled $583.0 million, and capital project disbursements totaled $39.3 million, including $8.5 million for major building projects (Table 8.5).

Table 8.4

Estimated Cost of Major IMF Activities, Financial Years 1999–20011

(In millions of U.S. dollars

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Note: Because of rounding, details may not add to total.

Cost estimates for financial years 1999 and 2000 are based on year-end data and reflect a new cost allocation methodology when compared with prior year’s Annual Reports.

The Executive Board costs include salaries and benefits of Executive Directors and their Alternates, Advisors and Assistants; business and other travel; communications; building occupancy; books and printing; supplies and equipment; data processing; other miscellaneous costs of Executive Directors’ offices, and the costs of staff support services provided for Executive Directors. The costs of the Board of Governors consist mainly of the travel and subsistence of Governors, the costs of staff support services provided for the Board of Governors, including the costs of the Annual Meetings, and other miscellaneous administrative services.

Table 8.5

Administrative and Capital Budgets, Financial Years 1998-20011

(Values expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars)

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Administrative Budget as approved by the Board for the financial year ending April 30, 2001, compared with actual expenses for the financial years ended April 30, 1998, April 30, 1999, and April 30, 2000; and Capital Budgets as approved by the Board for capital projects in financial years 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. Because of rounding, details may not add to total.

The reimbursement of $55,500 was not included in the Administrative Budget by Executive Board decision.

The reimbursement of $56,180 was not included in the Administrative Budget by Executive Board decision.

The reimbursement of $62,651 was not included in the Administrative Budget by Executive Board decision.

Net Administrative Budget expenses exclude valuation or loss on administrative currency holdings.

Multiyear Capital Budgets for projects beginning in each financial year.

During FY2000, Administrative Budget resources were used to support the IMF’s work in the following proportions: surveillance and use of IMF resources, with 130 countries classified as program intensive, and technical assistance (66 percent of expenses); external relations activities to continue to provide greater transparency of the IMF’s policies and operations (5 percent); administrative support, where investments in technology and work practice improvements continue to produce savings in the diverse activities within this category (20 percent); and Board of Governors and Executive Board (9 percent). The distribution of estimated administrative costs by major IMF activities is shown in Figure 8.2.

Budgets and Expenditure in FY2001

The Executive Board approved in April 2000 an Administrative Budget for FY2001 of $649.8 million, net of reimbursements, an 11.1 percent increase over the revised budget for the previous year. In addition, a capital projects budget of $50.6 million was approved for building facility projects, electronic data processing equipment, and major software development. The FY2001 Administrative Budget includes a net increase of 108 positions in the authorized staffing level (a total of 130 positions offset by savings of 22 positions from the internal review process and savings in other activities). Most of the new positions are earmarked for work related to the major new initiatives:

  • The preparation of assessments and programs for member countries jointly with the World Bank in the context of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), including work on debt relief under the Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries.

  • The Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), also in collaboration with the World Bank, will become an instrument of IMF surveillance to promote financial sector soundness and reduce the risk of crisis by detecting vulnerabilities and identifying corrective policies at an early stage.

  • The work on standards and codes will focus on assessments of data dissemination practices, fiscal transparency, monetary and/or financial policy transparency, and banking supervision.

    Most of the remaining positions are for planned enhancements to ongoing activities:

  • The IMF’s work program on surveillance will be strengthened on the basis of recommendations from recent external reviews.

  • In the area of technical assistance, the links between technical assistance and surveillance are to be strengthened through Technical Consultations and Technical Cooperation Action Plans. The program of training officials from member countries will also be broadened, and some resources will be set aside to meet demands for technical assistance from member countries associated with PRGF work.

  • The IMF is also reshaping its strategy for external communication. The main goals are to support the IMF’s increasing openness and transparency in general, which should in turn improve public understanding of the IMF’s work and strengthen communications with the private financial sector.

  • A pilot program is to be initiated for the assessment of central bank safeguards on the use of IMF financial resources. Work on improving fiscal data in program countries will also be strengthened.

The Capital Budget represents a continuation of plans for completing major building projects, replacing older facilities and electronic data processing equipment, and major software development projects.

Buildings

The addition to the I M F headquarters building (Phase III), completed in late 1998, hosted for the first time many of the functions of the 1999 Annual Meetings. The Executive Board approved a proposal in late 1999 to construct a new building on property owned by the IMF immediately adjacent to the headquarters building. Plans are under way to complete the project by 2005. Under current staffing projections, when the new building is complete, the I M F will no longer need to lease space in downtown Washington. This will reduce overall occupancy costs and realize the IMF’s long-term goal of housing all staff in owned space.

Figure 8.2
Figure 8.2

Estimated Cost of Major Activities, Financial Year 2000

(As a percent of total costs)

Note: Information is based on outturn of expenditures in financial year 2000. The cost of general supervision, training, professional development, and leave has been distributed proportionally to each of the other categories. Because of rounding, components may not add to total.

Selection of New Managing Director

Following the announcement by Michel Camdessus in November 1999 of his intention to step down as Managing Director, the Executive Board embarked on a process to select a successor. Executive Directors agreed to choose the Managing Director by consensus, which would be achieved through discussion and flexibly structured steps intended to narrow the range of candidates to one.

Directors held several discussions, under the chairmanship of the Dean of the Executive Board (the longest-serving Executive Director). Following these discussions and consultations in capitals, the choice of candidates was progressively narrowed down to one candidate. On March 23, 2000, the Executive Board, by a unanimous vote, selected Horst Köhler as Managing Director.

Mr. Köhler, 57, a national of Germany, was, prior to joining the IMF on May 1, 2000, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a post to which he was appointed in September 1998. Prior to that, Mr. Köhler was President of the German Savings Bank Association from 1993 to 1998. From 1990 to 1993, he served as Germany’s Deputy Minister of Finance, responsible for international financial and monetary relations. During this time, he led negotiations on behalf of the German government on the agreement that became the Maastricht Treaty on European Economic and Monetary Union, was closely involved in the process of German unification, and was Deputy Governor for Germany at the World Bank. He was personal representative ("sherpa") of the Federal Chancellor in the preparation of the Group of Seven Economic Summits in Houston (1990), London (1991), Munich (1992), and Tokyo (1993).

Mr. Köhler earned a doctorate in economics and political sciences from the University of Tubingen, where he was a scientific research assistant at the Institute for Applied Economic Research from 1969 to 1976. After completing his education, he held various positions in Germany’s Ministries of Economics and Finance between 1976 and 1989.

1

Remuneration of the three Deputy Managing Directors consists of salary only.

2

These figures do not apply to the U.S. Executive Director and Alternate Executive Director, who are subject to U.S. congressional salary caps.

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Cover International Monetary Fund Annual Report 2000
International Monetary Fund Annual Report 2000
Making the Global Economy Work for All
ISBN:
9781557758439
ISSN:
2227-8915
Publication Date:
15 Sep 2000
Publisher:
International Monetary Fund
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5089/9781557758439.011
Pages:
252
Figure 8.1

IMF Organization Chart
Figure 8.2

Estimated Cost of Major Activities, Financial Year 2000

(As a percent of total costs)