Middle East and Central Asia > Saudi Arabia
Abstract
In response to the Global Financial Crisis, the IMF launched many initiatives to strengthen financial surveillance and better advise member countries of vulnerabilities and risks. While these initiatives have not yet been tested by a major crisis, the efforts have delivered a substantial upgrade of the Fund’s financial surveillance, including giving the IMF clearer responsibilities over financial sector stability and cross-country spillovers; making periodic financial stability assessments mandatory for jurisdictions with systemically important financial sectors; invigorating efforts to integrate financial and macroeconomic analysis in bilateral and multilateral surveillance; enhancing cooperation with the Financial Stability Board and standard setting bodies to promote reforms and monitor agreed standards; and taking steps to recruit and train greater financial expertise. While recognizing these achievements, this evaluation finds that the quality and impact of the IMF’s financial surveillance has been uneven. The expansion of products and activities has presented the Fund with difficult trade-offs between bilateral and multilateral surveillance; between countries with systemically important financial sectors and other member countries; and between financial surveillance and other activities. Moreover, resource constraints have slowed the needed build-up of financial and macrofinancial expertise. These are critical issues, given the IMF’s position as the only international financial institution with the mandate and ability to conduct financial and macrofinancial surveillance over the full range of countries as well as the global economy, and given that these issues are at the core of the IMF’s responsibilities. Thus, to further strengthen financial surveillance, the evaluation recommends devoting greater resources to financial surveillance overall; further strengthening financial and macrofinancial analysis in Article IV surveillance; refining resource allocation for FSAPs; enhancing rigor and transparency in multilateral surveillance; intensifying efforts to be a global center of excellence on financial and macrofinancial research; and extending efforts to develop financial expertise among IMF staff.
Abstract
This paper presents different audited financial statements by the IMF. The accompanying consolidated financial statements of the General Department of the IMF (“the Department”), which comprise the consolidated statement of financial position as of April 30,2015, and the related consolidated statement of comprehensive income, of changes in reserves, resources, and retained earnings, and of cash flows for the year then ended have been audited. The responsibility is to express an opinion on the consolidated financial statements based on the audits. The audits have been conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing and auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. The consolidated financial statements referred to in the paper present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the General Department of the IMF on April 30, 2015, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.