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Business and Economics > Public Finance

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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Benin: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This Selected Issues paper presents stylized facts on Benin’s ongoing economic transformation, and analyzes the country’s new eco-system. A recent IMF paper explores conditions under which the country’s industrial policy could meet its intended goals while avoiding unintended economic distortions down the road. While economic diversification is found to be associated with higher economic growth, evidence on the causal impact of industrial policies is hard to establish. While empirical evidence suggests that Benin’s reliance on traditional sectors, notably the Port of Cotonou, is moderating, economic diversification remains limited. The government embarked on industrial policy with the transformation of local commodities as main engine, including via the launching of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in 2020. It is recommending that the authorities should pursue efforts to ensure transparency in the selection of SEZ-related incentives. Intra-regional trade integration holds significant potential for Benin and could support economic diversification. Ongoing post-electoral policy shifts in Nigeria and formalization underway of economic ties between both nations, if permanent, would curb rent-seeking in Benin.
Keywords:
demographics dividend; B. addressing Internet accessibility; infrastructure investment; Beninese government; completion rate; Digitalization; Exports; Global; Sub-Saharan Africa; West Africa
Cover Policy Papers
2024 Review Of The Fund’s Transparency Policy And Open Archives Policy—Background Paper 3 On Key Concepts And Supportive Analysis
International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department
On November 15, 2024, the IMF’s Executive Board concluded the Review of the IMF’s Transparency Policy and Open Archives Policy and approved a number of reforms. As an international institution, making important documents available to the public on timely basis enhances the IMF’s credibility, accountability, and effectiveness and is critical to fulfill its mandate of promoting global economic and financial stability. While transparency at the IMF is achieved through a range of policies and practices, the Transparency Policy and the Open Archives Policy form the core elements of the IMF’s transparency framework. The Fund has come a long way since the inception of these policies in the early nineties. Most Board documents are now published, published more quickly, and under more consistent and evenhanded application of modification rules. The information available in the Fund’s archives has increased and is more easily accessible to the public. While experience suggests that these policies are effective in delivering on their objectives, the landscape in which the Fund operates has evolved since these policies were last reviewed in 2013. In a more interconnected and shock-prone world the pace with which policymakers need to make decisions has accelerated and the expectations of stakeholders on the availability and timeliness of the Fund’s analysis and policy advice has grown. Against this backdrop, the 2024 Review of the IMF’s Transparency Policy and Open Archives Policy focuses on targeted reforms to (i) support faster publication of board documents and communications of Board’s decisions; (ii) strengthen the rules and processes to modify Board documents prior to publication; and (iii) allow faster release of some documents in the Fund’s archives accessible to the public. The reforms further clarify the scope and objectives of these policies, their implementation processes, and how to strengthen knowledge sharing. The review was supported by data analysis as well as surveys and consultations with key stakeholders, including Executive Directors, country authorities, IMF missions chiefs, and civil society organizations as detailed in the three background papers accompanying this 2024 review.
Keywords:
Accountability; Archives; Communication; Independence; Lending; Modification Rules; Publication; Surveillance Transparency; IMF's Transparency policy; publication regime; fund staff; Board document; i. staff guidance; Debt sustainability; Debt sustainability analysis; Civil society organizations; Poverty reduction strategy
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Sierra Leone: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This Selected Issues paper highlights mobilizing mining revenue in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is a resource-rich economy, and its mining sector can generate revenue to finance its development goals and ensure debt sustainability. It previously incorporated its mining fiscal regime for industrial miners into mineral license agreements that are difficult to modify. Negotiated tax concessions, combined with acute capacity challenges in revenue administration, are hindering revenue performances and have led to an elevated reliance on fees and trade taxes which increase investor costs, hindering competitiveness. Sierra Leone legislated a new fiscal regime—the Extractive Industries Revenue Act (EIRA)—in 2018 for new investments. Applying the EIRA could significantly boost revenue performance, whilst also ensuring taxes are responsive to changes in economic conditions. Stronger revenue performance will require a stronger revenue administration. Efforts to improve mineral royalty compliance are starting to pay dividends but NRA will need to bolster its resources and widen its skill sets.
Keywords:
trade cost; programs in Sierra Leone; spending program; policy option; Policy recommendation; inflation surge; Climate change; Women; Inflation; Food security; Trade facilitation; Sub-Saharan Africa; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Burkina Faso: 2024 Article IV Consultation and First Review Under the Extended Credit Facility and Financing Assurances Review-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Burkina Faso
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This paper focuses on Burkina Faso’s 2024 Article IV Consultation and First Review under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement and Financing Assurances Review. Burkina Faso’s performance under the program has been positive. All quantitative performance criteria, all indicative targets but one, and most structural benchmarks for the first review were met; some structural benchmarks were implemented with delay. Burkina Faso faces multiple development challenges, including heightened security conditions, climate change, and food insecurity. The authorities are progressing in their fiscal consolidation efforts, structural reforms and fiscal governance measures, and the creation of fiscal space for priority spending. Growth accelerated in 2023 to 3.6 percent of gross domestic product, supported by a rebound in construction and expansion of the tertiary sector. Inflation significantly decreased, and the fiscal and debt positions improved. Growth is projected at 5.5 percent in 2024 but remains below potential in the medium term, and a lasting recovery is contingent on bringing security under control.
Keywords:
consultation cycle; HIPC resource; investment expenditure budgeting; SDR equivalent; appreciation to IMF management; Debt sustainability; Food security; Global; Africa
Cover Technical Assistance Reports
Costa Rica: Technical Assistance Report-Universal Basic Pension: Objectives and Constraints
International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
At the request of the Ministry of Finance, a mission from the International Monetary Fund visited San Jose. The purpose of the mission was to assess the proposal to a universal basic pension and to estimate its fiscal and welfare impact on the budget, on pension schemes, and on old age income poverty. Costa Rica is entering a demographic transition which will see the old age dependency ratios significantly worsen in the coming 20 years. The long-term financial sustainability of the general social security pension scheme (IVM) is a concern, despite various reforms introduced over the past three decades and the scheme’s reserves are expected to be exhausted by the mid-2030s. The government’s proposal intends to address financial sustainability, the adequacy of coverage and of benefit levels, as well as distributional equity through the introduction of a universal basic pension. The IMF team’s assessment is that the proposal is unlikely to fully meet its stated objectives. The proposal will worsen social security pension scheme’s financial sustainability and create additional financing needs. This will translate into an accelerated exhaustion of IVM reserves and, after the reserves are depleted, require significant adjustments to IVM parameters or higher government transfers. Old age income security may be more effectively addressed, with less pronounced fiscal side-effects, through improving coverage and compliance in IVM and expanding the reach of the social pension scheme. The primary instruments of achieving these goals are: (a) amending the rules undermining compliance with registration and wage reporting regulations in the contributory schemes, (b) improving coordination between tax and contribution collection agencies, (c) amending the regulations governing eligibility for noncontributory social pensions and (d) ensuring the noncontributory social pension is adequately financed.
Keywords:
resident representative; IMF executive director; IMF Proposal; Asociación Costarricense; PBU replacement; Pensions; Pension spending; Aging; Income; Central America
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Belize: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This Selected Issue paper documents the recent episode of food inflation and food insecurity in Belize. The paper also overviews what policies were announced in Belize and the Caribbean during the recent cost-of-living crisis; and discusses the policies Belize could implement to protect its most vulnerable households from the threat of food insecurity going forward. It discusses the appropriate policies to protect vulnerable households from food price inflation going forward based on economic theory and best practices and estimates how much it would cost the government of Belize to protect the vulnerable population against a rise in food prices like the one in 2022. The authorities should evaluate the impact of the recent policy that regulates mark-ups on essential goods by wholesale and retail operators when they have sufficient data. The limits on the mark-up for 32 essential goods were introduced to limit the increase in food prices and avoid monopolistic practices.
Keywords:
food inflation; staff ream; debt target; cost of living crisis; B. food inflation; food inflation in Belize; price signals work; Food prices; Food security; Inflation; Fiscal stance; Caribbean; Global
Cover Policy Papers
Macroeconomic Developments and Prospects For Low-Income Countries—2024
International Monetary Fund
and
World Bank
The outlook for Low-Income Countries (LICs) is gradually improving, but they face persistent macroeconomic vulnerabilities, including liquidity challenges due to high debt service. There is significant heterogeneity among LICs: the poorest and most fragile countries have faced deep scarring from the pandemic, while those with diversified economies and Frontier Markets are faring better. Achieving inclusive growth and building resilience are essential for LICs to converge with more advanced economies and meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building resilience will also be critical in the context of a more shock-prone world. This requires both decisive domestic actions, including expanding and better targeting Social Safety Nets (SSNs), and substantial external support, including adequate financing, policy advice, capacity development and, where needed, debt relief. The Fund is further stepping up its support through targeted policy advice, capacity building, and financing.
Keywords:
Low-Income Countries; Heterogeneity; Debt vulnerability; Resilience building; Inclusive growth towards SDGs; Financing needs and external support; Social Safety Nets; poverty rate; means testing; poverty gap; aggregate poverty gap; SSNS spending; prospects in low-income countries; poverty threshold exit poverty; reform scenario; transparency policy; FAD financing tool; financial support; Poverty reduction; Household consumption; Inflation; Global; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Somalia: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper-Joint Staff Advisory Note
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
This Joint Staff Advisory Note (JSAN) on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Somalia highlights that Somalia continued to face challenges while implementing the Ninth National Development Plan in 2021 and 2022. Since 2020, the country has been struggling with the ongoing impacts of a desert locust infestation, persistent drought, the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and global food and fuel price increases due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. All of these shocks compounded the hardships of the population, including food insecurity. The number of people facing food insecurity due to the drought rose from 3.2 million in January 2022 to5.6 million by end-2022. Parliamentary and Presidential elections that were supposed to commence by end-2020 were not completed until in May 2022, also affecting the timing of external grant disbursements. The mid-term review report addresses concerns raised in staffs’ previous JSAN on Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Completion Point, climate change, and revenue mobilization. In terms of progress toward the HIPC Completion Point, as of September 2023 the government has completed 13 of 14 Completion Point triggers.
Keywords:
member country's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper; Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper to the executive boards; copyright page; objective of the JSAN; government program; Poverty reduction strategy; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Somalia: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper-Joint Staff Advisory Note
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
This Joint Staff Advisory Note (JSAN) reviews the first Annual Progress Report (APR) on Somalia’s Ninth National Development Plan (NDP9). NDP9 is a nationally owned and comprehensive strategy for poverty reduction and inclusive growth. It covers 2020–2024 and is organized around the four pillars: Inclusive Politics, Security and the Rule of Law, Economic Development and Social Development. Somalia began implementing NDP9 at a time of profound challenges posed by the ‘triple crises’ of locust infestations, a global pandemic, and floods. An outbreak of desert locusts started in 2019 that threatened the food supply across the Horn of Africa. In 2020, the world was hit by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The IMF Staff concur with the APR’s assessment that important progress has been made on implementation of the NPD9, despite challenges from the triple shocks faced by Somalia in 2020. Notwithstanding the multiple shocks, the Somali authorities preserved macroeconomic stability and maintained the reform momentum, strengthening domestic revenue mobilization, public financial management, financial sector regulation and supervision, statistics and governance.
Keywords:
objective of the JSAN; copyright page; advisory note; feedback to the country; cash transfer program; Poverty reduction strategy; Budget planning and preparation; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Rising Child Poverty in Europe: Mitigating the Scarring from the COVID-19 Pandemic
Mr. Jean-Jacques Hallaert
,
Iglika Vassileva
, and
Tingyun Chen
Child poverty increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020 alone, the number of children suffering from poverty in the EU increased by 19 percent, or close to 1 million. Left unaddressed, this would not only affect individuals’ life prospects and well-being but also have long-term economic implications. This paper argues that, to limit this potential scarring effect of the pandemic, policies should be deployed to reduce rapidly the number of children affected by poverty and mitigate the long-term impact of poverty. Reducing the number of children affected by poverty can be achieved by (i) labor policies and reforms that increase parental work and the labor income of poor parents and (ii) fiscal spending on family and children that can have a powerful and immediate impact. These policies need to be complemented by public investment in education and childcare, health, and housing to mitigate the long-term impact of child poverty.
Keywords:
child poverty; EU assistance; scarring effect; C. measuring poverty; summary plot; labor income; COVID-19; Income; Poverty reduction; Social protection spending; Europe