Abstract
2018 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Suriname
Fund Relations
(As of September 30, 2018)
Membership Status: Joined: April 27, 1978; Article VIII
| General Resources Account: | SDR Million | Percent of quota |
|---|---|---|
| Quota | 128.90 | 100.00 |
| Fund holdings of currency (Holdings Rate) | 177.70 | 137.86 |
| Reserve Tranche Position | 9.20 | 7.14 |
| General Resources Account: | SDR Million | Percent of quota |
|---|---|---|
| Quota | 128.90 | 100.00 |
| Fund holdings of currency (Holdings Rate) | 177.70 | 137.86 |
| Reserve Tranche Position | 9.20 | 7.14 |
| SDR Department: | SDR Million | Percent of allocation |
|---|---|---|
| Net cumulative allocation | 88.09 | 100.00 |
| Holdings | 25.52 | 28.97 |
| SDR Department: | SDR Million | Percent of allocation |
|---|---|---|
| Net cumulative allocation | 88.09 | 100.00 |
| Holdings | 25.52 | 28.97 |
| Outstanding Purchases and Loans: | SRD Million | Percent of Quota |
|---|---|---|
| Stand-by Arrangement | 58.00 | 45.00 |
| Outstanding Purchases and Loans: | SRD Million | Percent of Quota |
|---|---|---|
| Stand-by Arrangement | 58.00 | 45.00 |
Latest Financial Arrangements:
| Type | Date of Arrangement | Expiration Date | Amount Approved (SDR million) | Amount Drawn (SDR million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stand-by | May 27, 2016 | Apr 16, 2017 | 342.00 | 58.00 |
| Type | Date of Arrangement | Expiration Date | Amount Approved (SDR million) | Amount Drawn (SDR million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stand-by | May 27, 2016 | Apr 16, 2017 | 342.00 | 58.00 |
Projected Payments to Fund1
(SDR Million; based on existing use of resources and present holdings of SDRs):
| Forthcoming | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
| Principal | 14.50 | 29.00 | 14.50 | ||
| Charges/ Interest | 0.44 | 1.75 | 1.32 | 0.76 | 0.62 |
| Total | 0.44 | 16.25 | 30.32 | 15.26 | 0.62 |
| Forthcoming | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
| Principal | 14.50 | 29.00 | 14.50 | ||
| Charges/ Interest | 0.44 | 1.75 | 1.32 | 0.76 | 0.62 |
| Total | 0.44 | 16.25 | 30.32 | 15.26 | 0.62 |
Implementation of HIPC Initiative: Not Applicable
Implementation of Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI): Not Applicable
Implementation of Catastrophe Containment and Relief (CCR): Not Applicable
As of February 4, 2015, the Post-Catastrophe Debt Relief Trust has been transformed to the Catastrophe Containment and Relief (CCR) Trust.
A. Nonfinancial Relations with the Authorities
Exchange rate arrangements
The national currency is the Surinamese dollar (SRD), which replaced the Surinamese guilder in January 2004 at a conversion rate of 1,000 guilders per SRD 1. The de jure exchange rate arrangement is classified as floating. Effective February 13, 2017, the de facto exchange rate arrangement has been reclassified to “stabilized” because the bilateral U.S. dollar exchange rate has remained within a narrow margin of 2 percent. Suriname maintains an exchange system that is free of multiple currency practices and restrictions on the making of payments and transfers for current international transactions.
Last Article IV consultation
The last Article IV consultation was concluded by the Executive Board on December 19, 2016 (The last published IMF Article IV country report is from October 31, 2014: IMF Country Report No. 14/316). Suriname is on the standard 12-month consultation cycle.
Participation in the GDDS and the e-GDDS
In July 2004, the IMF officially announced Suriname’s formal participation in the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS), and e-GDDS was implemented in April 2017.
Safeguards Assessment
The first safeguards assessment of the CBvS was completed in June 2016. The assessment found significant risks, including in the areas of governance, central bank legislation, financial reporting, and the external audit of the central bank. Recommendations included: (i) amending the Bank Act to align it with leading practices for central banks; (ii) appointing an international audit firm with experience in auditing central banks to conduct the annual financial statements audit; and (iii) special audits of program monetary data submitted to the Fund. Finalizing the Bank Act amendments and submitting them to the National Assembly is a priority. While these measures were included as part of program conditionality, progress on the implementation of the recommendations has been slow.
B. Technical Assistance (TA) Since 2011
CARTAC
Improving insurance supervision (2011)
National accounts statistics in rebasing the Gross Domestic Products at constant prices and revising the current price estimates (2011)
Improving fiscal projection and budget preparation capacity (early 2012)
Treasury single account and chart of accounts issues (June 2012 and April 2013)
Seminar on central treasury management (August 2012)
Support during VAT implementation (October 2012)
Banking supervision and securities regulation (October 2012)
National accounts and expenditure-based GDP (July 2012, July 2013, February 2014)
Deposit insurance scheme (January, June and July 2013)
Review of existing reforms including the chart of accounts and IFMIS implementation (October through to November 2013)
Capital market development (November 2013)
Electronic auditing course (January 2014)
Balance of payments statistics assessment (February 2014)
National account statistics on expenditure-based GDP, current prices (February 2014)
Assistance on MTEF and the budget process also present at the ICAC conference (June 2014)
Improving macroeconomic projection frameworks and training staff in forecasting techniques (June 2014)
Developing macroprudential indicators and measures of systemic risk (April 2015)
National account statistics on expenditure-based GDP, current prices (April 2015)
Developing a stress-testing methodology for the insurance sector (May 2015)
Development of financial soundness indicators for insurance sector (June 2015)
Enhancement of financial stability analysis (July 2015)
National account statistics on expenditure-based GDP, current prices (November 2015)
Balance of payments and IIP enhancement (July 2016)
Developing pension fund sector (July 2016)
National Account Statistics (February 2017)
Price Statistics (August 2017)
Macrofiscal scoping mission (July 2018)
FAD
Revenue administration assessment for a high-level implementation plan for the VAT (February 2011)
Joint IMF-WB mission on public financial management and related ICT capacity building (August 2012)
Joint IMF-WB mission on IFMIS design and implementation (May 2013)
Establishing a treasury and cash management unit (July 2016)
Revenue Administration: Preparing for the Value-Added Tax (March 2017)
Legal and Tax Policy Frameworks: Preparing for the Value-Added Tax (April 2017)
Revenue Administration: Preparing for the Value-Added Tax (October 2017)
LEG
Fiscal law (August and November 2011)
MCM
Banking system assessment (March 2011)
Introduction of indirect monetary instruments (June 2011)
Bank resolution (December 2011)
TA results management (February 2012)
T-bills auction (May 2013)
T-bills auction (July 2013)
Central bank modernization (September 2013)
Modernizing payments system at the Central Bank of Suriname (October 2013)
T-bill auctions (December 2013)
Central bank accounting and treasury account rationalization (December 2013)
Establishment of a single treasury account and improving financial reporting (January 2014)
T-bills auction (July 2014)
Macroeconomic and monetary operations (September 2015)
TA needs assessment (September 2015)
Exchange rate policy (November 2015)
Monetary framework operations (March 2016)
T-bills auction (April 2016)
Enhancing Central Bank financial strength and transparency (October 2016)
Emergency liquidity assistance, early intervention and crisis management (August and November 2016)
STA
Workshop on national accounts (January 2012)
BOP and external sector statistics (March 2014)
Government finance statistics (December 2015)
Financial soundness indicators (April 2016)
Government finance statistics (May 2016)
Enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS) (February 2017)
Government finance statistics (May 2017)
Government finance statistics (May 2018)
Consents and acceptances: Suriname has consented to the Executive Board reform and 2010 quota increase.
Resident Representative: None.
Relations with Other International Financial Instituions
World Bank Group:
Overview of World Bank Group lending to Suriname: http://financesapp.worldbank.org/en/countries/Suriname/
Project Operations: http://projects.worldbank.org/search?lang=en&searchTerm=suriname
Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)
Country page: https://www.iadb.org/en/countries/suriname/overview
IADB’s lending portfolio: https://www.iadb.org/en/countries/suriname/overview
Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)
Country Page: http://www.caribank.org/about-cdb/member-countries/regional-members/suriname
CDB’s Strategy Paper: http://www.caribank.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/BD53_14_CSP_Suriname_FINAL.pdf
Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)
Country Page and IsDB’s project operations: https://www.isdb.org/country/suriname
Statistical Issues
A. Assessment of Data Adequacy for Surveillance
General: Data provision is broadly adequate for surveillance purposes, but has shortcomings, reflecting capacity constraints and limited resources. Most affected are the national accounts, price, and labor market indicators. Annual national accounts data are available with a delay of about 9 months. Detailed CPI component data (for example, the weights in the consumption basket of fuel and electricity) are unavailable, and no other price indexes, such as a production price index (PPI) and exports and imports price indexes, are available. The authorities should implement their plan, discussed at the time of the 2014 Article IV, to publish expenditure-based GDP. Fiscal and external sector data are broadly adequate for surveillance. The authorities also need to compile social indicators for enabling social policy design to support inclusive growth. Overall, the lack of timely and complete economic data deprives policymakers and the private sector of accurate information about the economy and hampers a full diagnostic of the current conjuncture. At the same time, the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS) has developed a Monthly Economic Activity Indicator, based on survey of about 250 companies, that usefully tracks economic activity. The authorities could develop further labor market indicators to fill the labor statistics gap.
Real Sector Statistics: The CARTAC has provide the General Bureau of Statistics (ABS) technical assistance in improving the quality and coverage of real sector statistics data. The ABS currently produces annual estimates of GDP by production at current and constant 2007 prices; as well as annual current price estimates for GDP by expenditure that are not disseminated. The ABS has updated the CPI basket based on the results of the 2013/2014 household budget survey and published a census of enterprises. Producer price index and export and import price indexes are not compiled.
Government finance statistics: Public finance statistics and public debt data are limited to the central government. Given the importance and number of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the institutional coverage of fiscal statistics should be broadened to the nonfinancial public sector to allow an improved assessment of overall public sector fiscal risks. In the context of ongoing fiscal reforms, the MoF received technical assistance from STA for the implementation of a new information technology system (IFMIS) to produce the budget according to the GFSM. There has been an improvement in the quality of fiscal data as MoF started publishing data on gross revenues subsidies (correcting for settlements). Staff encourages the MoF to publish detailed fiscal data on a timely basis.
Monetary and financial statistics: The CBvS uses standardized report forms (SRFs) to regularly report data for the central bank and other depositary corporations (ODCs) on a monthly basis. The CBvS does not provide SRFs for other financial corporations. There have been important improvements to quality and timeliness of monetary and financial statistics. The surveys for depository corporations are disseminated on the CBvS’s website within five weeks of the reference month. Suriname is compiling financial soundness indicators (FSIs) for the banking system on a quarterly basis with a lag of about one quarter. The FSIs are currently not reported to the Statistics Department (STA) for dissemination on the IMF’s FSI website. The authorities are encouraged to adopt the IMF FSI methodology for reporting Suriname’s FSIs to STA on a regular basis and to start compiling FSIs also for insurance companies and other financial institutions. An STA technical assistance mission on FSI compilation visited Suriname in April 2016 and provided a roadmap for improving FSIs.
External sector: The CBvS has made important progress in the compilation of quarterly balance of payments and International Investment Position (IIP) statistics. The current classification and methodology of the Balance of Payments Manual, Fifth Edition (BPM5), is adopted to the extent that national data sources have permitted, and the authorities are looking forward to the transition to the sixth edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6). With the aim of embracing new statistical initiatives, the CBvS reported for the first time in 2013 quarterly IIP data for dissemination purposes in the Fund’s International Financial Statistics (IFS) and national publications. The authorities also reported to the World Bank in June 2014 for the first time the Quarterly External Debt Statistics (QEDS), which are available on its website. Since 2014, the CBvS has strengthened the compilation and coverage of foreign direct investment, and the compilation and quality of the current data sources of services, remittances and financial account. The CBvS also has full coverage of private sector external debt through the financial system and is working on broadening coverage of other private external debt, deposits of nonfinancial private sector, and new foreign direct investment in off-shore oil exploration projects. However, continued efforts need to be made to improve statistics on services (freight, insurance and pension services, financial, and other business services), with particular emphasis on travel through the implementation of a recurrent survey in coordination with the Suriname Tourism Office, and remittances through non-formal channels, using the annual household survey of the General Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
B. Data Standards and Quality
Suriname implemented e-GDDS since April 2017.
C. Reporting to STA
Suriname currently does not report fiscal statistics for inclusion in either International Financial Statistics or the Government Financial Statistics Yearbook.
Table of Common Indicators Required for Surveillance
(As of October 31, 2018)
Deposit and lending rates.
Foreign, domestic bank, and domestic nonbank financing.
Includes external gross financial asset and liability positions vis-à-vis nonresidents.
Daily (D); Weekly (W); Monthly (M); Quarterly (Q); Annually (A); Irregular (I); Not Available (NA).
Table of Common Indicators Required for Surveillance
(As of October 31, 2018)
| Date of latest observation | Date received | Frequency of Data4 | Frequency of Reporting4 | Frequency of publication4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange Rates | 10/30/2018 | 10/31/2018 | D | D | D |
| International Reserve Assets and Reserve Liabilities of the Monetary Authorities | 9/30/2018 | 10/15/2018 | Weekly | Monthly, less than 1-month lag | M |
| Reserve/Base Money | September 2018 | 9/17/2018 | M | Monthly, less than 1-month lag | M |
| Broad Money | August 2018 | 9/17/2018 | M | Monthly, 6-week lag | M |
| Central Bank Balance Sheet | September 2018 | 9/17/2018 | M | Monthly, less than 1-month lag | M |
| Consolidated Balance Sheet of the Banking System | August 2018 | 9/17/2018 | M | Monthly, 6-week lag | M |
| Interest Rates1 | August 2018 | 9/17/2018 | M | Monthly, 6-week lag | M |
| Consumer Price Index | September 2018 | 10/23/2018 | M | Monthly, often less than 1-month lag | M |
| Revenue, Expenditure, Balance and Composition of Financing2 – General Government | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Revenue, Expenditure, Balance and Composition of Financing2– Central Government | June 2018 | 9/24/2018 | M | Monthly, 6-week lag | M |
| Stocks of Central Government and Central Government-Guaranteed Debt | August 2018 | 10/30/2018 | M | Monthly, 6-week lag | M |
| External Current Account Balance | Q2/2018 | 08/30/2018 | Q | Q | Q |
| Exports and Imports of Goods and Services | Q2/2018 | 08/30/2018 | Q | Q | Q |
| GDP | 2017 | 9/28/2018 | A | A | A |
| Gross External Debt | Q2/2018 | 08/30/2018 | Q | Q | Q |
| International Investment Position3 | Q2/2018 | 08/30/2018 | Q | Q | Q |
Deposit and lending rates.
Foreign, domestic bank, and domestic nonbank financing.
Includes external gross financial asset and liability positions vis-à-vis nonresidents.
Daily (D); Weekly (W); Monthly (M); Quarterly (Q); Annually (A); Irregular (I); Not Available (NA).
Table of Common Indicators Required for Surveillance
(As of October 31, 2018)
| Date of latest observation | Date received | Frequency of Data4 | Frequency of Reporting4 | Frequency of publication4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange Rates | 10/30/2018 | 10/31/2018 | D | D | D |
| International Reserve Assets and Reserve Liabilities of the Monetary Authorities | 9/30/2018 | 10/15/2018 | Weekly | Monthly, less than 1-month lag | M |
| Reserve/Base Money | September 2018 | 9/17/2018 | M | Monthly, less than 1-month lag | M |
| Broad Money | August 2018 | 9/17/2018 | M | Monthly, 6-week lag | M |
| Central Bank Balance Sheet | September 2018 | 9/17/2018 | M | Monthly, less than 1-month lag | M |
| Consolidated Balance Sheet of the Banking System | August 2018 | 9/17/2018 | M | Monthly, 6-week lag | M |
| Interest Rates1 | August 2018 | 9/17/2018 | M | Monthly, 6-week lag | M |
| Consumer Price Index | September 2018 | 10/23/2018 | M | Monthly, often less than 1-month lag | M |
| Revenue, Expenditure, Balance and Composition of Financing2 – General Government | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Revenue, Expenditure, Balance and Composition of Financing2– Central Government | June 2018 | 9/24/2018 | M | Monthly, 6-week lag | M |
| Stocks of Central Government and Central Government-Guaranteed Debt | August 2018 | 10/30/2018 | M | Monthly, 6-week lag | M |
| External Current Account Balance | Q2/2018 | 08/30/2018 | Q | Q | Q |
| Exports and Imports of Goods and Services | Q2/2018 | 08/30/2018 | Q | Q | Q |
| GDP | 2017 | 9/28/2018 | A | A | A |
| Gross External Debt | Q2/2018 | 08/30/2018 | Q | Q | Q |
| International Investment Position3 | Q2/2018 | 08/30/2018 | Q | Q | Q |
Deposit and lending rates.
Foreign, domestic bank, and domestic nonbank financing.
Includes external gross financial asset and liability positions vis-à-vis nonresidents.
Daily (D); Weekly (W); Monthly (M); Quarterly (Q); Annually (A); Irregular (I); Not Available (NA).
When a member has overdue financial obligations outstanding for more than three months, the amount of such arrears will be shown in this section.