Western Hemisphere > Suriname

You are looking at 11 - 20 of 59 items for

  • Type: Journal Issue x
Clear All Modify Search
Petr Jakubik
This High-Level Summary technical assistance report presents mission’s summary and recommendations of financial stability report (FSR). The technical assistance aimed to enhance the FSR of the Central Bank of Suriname. The mission concluded that the preparation of detailed FSR production plan and communication strategy are critical and could facilitate improvements, promote the report, and bring some synergies between different teams involved. The report should reflect on all-important elements of financial stability assessment and needs to be streamlined to follow the central story with the key messages. The quality of the report could be further improved by advancements in the employed analytical toolkit and utilization of all available data sources. In the meantime, the existing data gaps could be covered by different surveys with the industry. Finally, the CBS should initiate a discussion on software/tools that would be used for processing big data in the Bank.
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
This Technical Assistance Report on Suriname discusses summary and recommendations of financial stability report (FSR). The mission focused on enhancing the FSR of the Central Bank of Suriname (CBS) whose publication has recently resumed. The mission provided several recommendations to the CBS. This covered the content and structure of the FSR and its related FSR processes, CBS’s internal and external communication, additional headcount for the Financial Stability Department, developing the financial stability analytical toolkit, coverage of the non-banking sector, and the use of data sources and statistics. The preparation of a detailed FSR production plan is critical and could facilitate improvements and bring some synergies between different teams involved in its production. This needs to include different steps and set up a firm date of publication. The CBS should further continue working toward enhancing the financial stability analytical toolkit. The mission also identified that more in-depth analysis of the insurance and pension sector is needed. The bank-like activities undertaken by non-banks should be fully assessed and monitored.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This paper presents Suriname’s Third Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility. The authorities’ commitment to macroeconomic stability and fiscal discipline under the program is starting to bear fruit. The economy is stabilizing as exchange rate pressures have eased and inflation, while still high, is on a downward trend. The authorities’ main near-term policy priority is to maintain fiscal prudence while protecting the most vulnerable and supporting growth-enhancing investment. Decisive fiscal adjustment is putting debt on a firm downward trajectory even as expenditures to protect the vulnerable are being prioritized. Monetary and fiscal restraints are easing pressures on the exchange rate, but inflation has yet to move decisively lower. Efforts are underway to broaden the tax base, increase spending efficiency, improve governance, and address longstanding vulnerabilities in the financial system. The authorities have enacted an amendment to increase value added tax revenues and have finalized a framework to assess banks’ recapitalization and restructuring plans.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This paper presents Suriname’s Review under the Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility, Requests for Rephasing and Reduction of Access, Waivers of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria (PC), and Financing Assurances Review. The authorities have made concerted efforts to bring their economic recovery program back on track and stabilize the economy, foremost by restoring fiscal discipline, while expanding social assistance programs to protect the poor. They have also reached important milestones in debt restructuring negotiations, which, alongside fiscal consolidation, will support Suriname’s efforts to restore debt sustainability. The end-December 2022 quantitative performance criteria on the cumulative central government primary balance and net domestic assets were missed. Two continuous PCs and one standard continuous PC were also breached. Progress on implementing the structural agenda has moved ahead but with delays. The authorities are continuing to make progress with their structural reform agenda. Structural reforms to strengthen institutions, governance, and data quality remain key priorities with continued capacity building support by IMF and Suriname’s other development partners.
International Monetary Fund. Statistics Dept.
This technical assistance report on Suriname highlights proceedings of the Government Finance Statistics (GFS) mission. The authorities have partially followed the recommendations from previous mission that took place in April 2022. While there has been significant progress in below-the-line data, little progress has been made in above-the-line data. Compilers from the Statistics Department of the Central Bank of Suriname have compiled a financial balance sheet of the Central Government (CG) to assure the integration of flows with the stocks of financial assets and liabilities. In addition, they perform regular consistency checks of data on the CG deposits and loans with the recordings in the banking system. No developments have been achieved regarding the institutional sector coverage and little progress has been done regarding the above-the-line data compilation. One of the main issues that hamper GFS data quality is that no comprehensive data on the government revenues and expenditure exist in Suriname. The mission provided an extended hands-on training for the main GFS team compiling above-the-line transactions.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This technical assistance report on Suriname highlights medium-term macro-fiscal forecasting (MTFF). The Economic Affairs Department (EAD) recognizes the desirability of creating a new medium-term macro-fiscal forecasting framework. Existing technical capacity relating to forecasting among most EAD staff is at a basic level. Training, through hands-on exercises using Surinamese data, will play an important role in supporting the development and ultimate adoption of the MTFF. There are several risks to the project’s success, including regarding data quality and availability, as well as competing demands on EAD staff time. Limited data and weak relationships between predictors (economic activity) and fiscal variables would limit the forecast accuracy of the MTFF, though it would still allow for more rigorous and transparent projections than is current practice. Regarding staff time, it is understood that EAD staff have a strong interest in the development and usage of an MTFF, hopefully ensuring sufficient time by a core group of persons is devoted to receiving technical assistance support to develop the tool.
International Monetary Fund. Statistics Dept.
This technical assistance (TA) mission on Government Finance Statistics was conducted during April 19– May 6, 2022. The main purpose of the mission was to review the progress made by the authorities in implementing previous TA recommendations and provide further support to improve fiscal data compilation and dissemination in line with international standards set out in the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014.
Mr. Serhan Cevik
Global warming is the most significant threat to ecosystems and people’s health and living standards, especially in small island states in the Caribbean and elsewhere. This paper contributes to the debate by analyzing different options to scale up climate change mitigation and adaptation. In particular, the empirical analysis indicates that increasing energy efficiency and reducing the use of fossil fuel in electricity generation could lead to a significant reduction in carbon emissions, while investing in physical and financial resilience would yield long-run benefits. From a risk-reward perspective, the advantages of reducing the risks associated with climate change and the health benefits from higher environmental quality clearly outweigh the potential cost of climate change mitigation and adaptation in the short run. The additional revenue generated by environmental taxes could be used to compensate the most vulnerable households, building a multilayered safety net, and strengthening structural resilience.
International Monetary Fund. Statistics Dept.
At the request of the Suriname authorities, a remote technical assistance (TA) mission took place during December 6–17, 2021. The mission was conducted in coordination with the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department. The main objective of the mission was to assist the Ministry of Finance and Planning (MFP) and the Central Bank of Suriname (CBS) to improve the quality of the Government Finance Statistics (GFS) in view of the IMF program. The main tasks were to (i) conduct a diagnostic assessment of the current GFS and public debt compilation process,(ii) explain and reduce statistical discrepancies, (iii) analyze data on arrears and reassess their treatment in GFS, (iv) review the integration of stocks and flows of the gross debt; and (v) update the public sector institutional table, and (vi) deliver a workshop on GFSM 2014 framework and (PSDS).
International Monetary Fund. Statistics Dept.
A technical assistance (TA) mission on external sector statistics (ESS) was conducted in Paramaribo, Suriname, during March 2‒13, 2020. The mission was part of the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) work program on ESS and was carried out in response to a request from the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS). The mission reviewed estimates and coverage of the balance of payments and international investment position (IIP), which have been prepared in the sixth edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6) format. In particular, the mission’s work mainly aimed at enhancing the coverage and the classification of (i) currency and deposits assets held abroad by the nonfinancial sector; (ii) insurance services, transport, travel account and trade credit and advances; (iii) offshore petroleum exploration companies; (iv) government external debt; and (iv) the use of business survey. Improvements in these key areas will facilitate a more robust assessment of external sector developments. Reliable ESS is essential for informed economic policy-making by the authorities and for IMF’s surveillance.