Abstract
SAMOA
Title page
SAMOA
STAFF REPORT FOR THE 2023 ARTICLE IV CONSULTATION—INFORMATIONAL ANNEX
February 21, 2023
Prepared By
Asia and Pacific Department
(In consultation with other departments)
Contents
FUND RELATIONS
RELATIONS WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
STATISTICAL ISSUES
Fund Relations
(As of January 31, 2022)
Membership Status
Joined: December 28, 1971; Article VIII
General Resources Account
| SDR Million | Percent Quota | |
| Quota | 16.20 | 100.00 |
| Fund holdings of currency | 14.37 | 88.69 |
| Reserve position in Fund | 1.84 | 11.38 |
| SDR Million | Percent Quota | |
| Quota | 16.20 | 100.00 |
| Fund holdings of currency | 14.37 | 88.69 |
| Reserve position in Fund | 1.84 | 11.38 |
SDR Department
| SDR Million | Percent Allocation | |
| Net cumulative allocation | 26.62 | 100.00 |
| Holdings | 15.84 | 59.52 |
| SDR Million | Percent Allocation | |
| Net cumulative allocation | 26.62 | 100.00 |
| Holdings | 15.84 | 59.52 |
Outstanding Purchases and Loans
| SDR Million | Percent Quota | |
| RCF Loans | 16.78 | 103.58 |
| SDR Million | Percent Quota | |
| RCF Loans | 16.78 | 103.58 |
Latest Financial Arrangements
| Type | Approval Date | Expiration Date | Amount Approved (SDR million) | Amount Drawn (SDR million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stand-by | 7/9/1984 | 7/8/1985 | 3.38 | 3.38 |
| Stand-by | 6/27/1983 | 6/26/1984 | 3.38 | 3.38 |
| Stand-by | 8/17/1979 | 8/16/1980 | 0.75 | 0.00 |
| Type | Approval Date | Expiration Date | Amount Approved (SDR million) | Amount Drawn (SDR million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stand-by | 7/9/1984 | 7/8/1985 | 3.38 | 3.38 |
| Stand-by | 6/27/1983 | 6/26/1984 | 3.38 | 3.38 |
| Stand-by | 8/17/1979 | 8/16/1980 | 0.75 | 0.00 |
Outright Loans
| Type | Date of Commitment | Date Drawn | Amount Approved (SDR million) | Amount Drawn (SDR million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RCF | 4/24/2020 | 4/28/2020 | 16.20 | 16.20 |
| RCF | 5/15/2013 | 5/24/2013 | 5.80 | 5.80 |
| Type | Date of Commitment | Date Drawn | Amount Approved (SDR million) | Amount Drawn (SDR million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RCF | 4/24/2020 | 4/28/2020 | 16.20 | 16.20 |
| RCF | 5/15/2013 | 5/24/2013 | 5.80 | 5.80 |
Overdue Obligations and Projected Payments to Fund1
(SDR million; based on existing use of resources and present holding of SDRs):
When a member has overdue financial obligations outstanding for more than three months, the amount of such arrears will be shown in this section.
| Forthcoming | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | |
| Principal | 0.58 | 0.00 | 1.62 | 3.24 | 3.24 |
| Charges/interest | 0.34 | 0.35 | 0.35 | 0.35 | 0.35 |
| Total | 0.92 | 0.35 | 1.97 | 3.59 | 3.59 |
When a member has overdue financial obligations outstanding for more than three months, the amount of such arrears will be shown in this section.
| Forthcoming | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | |
| Principal | 0.58 | 0.00 | 1.62 | 3.24 | 3.24 |
| Charges/interest | 0.34 | 0.35 | 0.35 | 0.35 | 0.35 |
| Total | 0.92 | 0.35 | 1.97 | 3.59 | 3.59 |
When a member has overdue financial obligations outstanding for more than three months, the amount of such arrears will be shown in this section.
Exchange Rate Arrangement
Samoa’s exchange rate arrangement is a conventional peg to a trade and payments weighted basket of currencies. The pegged rate can be adjusted within a ±2 percent band. The currencies in the Samoan tala basket include Samoa’s most important trading partners and countries that are major sources of tourism revenue from abroad––New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and countries using the euro. Samoa has accepted the obligations of Article VIII, Sections 2,3, and 4 and maintains an exchange system that is free of restrictions on the making of payments and transfers for current international transactions and multiple currency practices.
Article IV Consultations
Samoa is on a 12-month consultation cycle. The 2021 consultation was concluded by the Executive Board on March 18, 2021 (IMF Country Report No. 2021/056).
Safeguards Assessments
An update safeguards assessment was completed in May 2021. The assessment found an autonomous central bank that has strong governance arrangements, and financial reporting practices that are anchored in International Financial Reporting Standards. Since then, the CBS has sought IMF technical assistance to establish a risk management function and work is progressing in this area. Nonetheless, a recommendation for the appointment of a reputable external auditor experienced in auditing central banks has not been implemented. The CBS Board should appoint an international reputable auditor to jointly work with the local audit firm for the completion of the audit for FY 2023 to ensure that the audit is conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (ISA), and benefits from experts with experience in auditing central banks.
AML/CFT
Samoa’s AML/CFT regime was assessed in 2015 by the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) under the revised 2012 FATF standard. In the mutual evaluation report (MER), the APG found significant shortcomings in Samoa’s AML/CFT regime, rating it low or moderately effective in 10 out of the 11 immediate outcomes on effectiveness, and non-compliant or partially compliant in 23 of the 40 technical recommendations. Following the APG assessment, the authorities developed and implemented the 2016-2020 national AML/CFT strategy. Amendments to the Money Laundering Prevention Act were passed in 2018, while the Trustee Companies Amendment Act and Foundations Amendment Act were enacted in 2019. In its 2020 follow-up report, Samoa reported on its continuing work to rectify deficiencies in the MER, and remains under the APG’s enhanced follow-up process. The CBS has been coordinating with an AML consultant to prepare the APG follow-up assessment.
Capacity Development
Samoa has been an intensive user of IMF Capacity Development (CD) in recent years. Much of this has been delivered through the Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre (PFTAC) in the following areas: public financial management (PFM), revenue administration, macroeconomic programming and analysis, real sector statistics, government finance statistics, and financial sector supervision. The Capacity Development Office of Thailand has provided CD on external sectors statistics. The CBS is participating in a multiyear program of ICD to develop its capacity in macroeconomic frameworks. In 2021 MCM provided technical assistance on central bank risk management and on the financial safety net and crisis management. FAD provided a diagnostic of tax reforms in Pacific Islands, in which Samoa was included. Also in 2021, Samoa participated in the Climate Macroeconomic Assessment Program, which was led by FAD with participation of RES and APD.
Resident Representative
The Regional Resident Representative Office for Pacific Island countries including Samoa is based in Suva, Fiji and was opened on September 13, 2010. Mr. Neil Saker is the current Resident Representative.
Relations with Other International Financial Institutions
Information on the activities of other IFIs in Samoa can be found at:
World Bank Group:
http://projects.worldbank.org/search?lang=en&searchTerm=&countrycode_exact=WS
Asian Development Bank:
Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Center:
Statistical Issues
(As of February 2023)
| I. Assessment of Data Adequacy for Surveillance |
| General: Data provision has some shortcomings but is broadly adequate for surveillance. Core macroeconomic and monetary data are regularly provided to the IMF, and published on official websites. However, there are weaknesses in national accounts, monetary and financial, and external sector statistics. |
| National Accounts: National accounts statistics have improved during the last three years. GDP by production at current and constant prices is compiled quarterly, predominantly using value-added tax data. Rebased GDP at 2013 prices was first published in April 2019. PFTAC is assisting in developing quarterly GDP by expenditure and reducing the statistics discrepancy between annual GDP by production and by expenditure. |
| Price Statistics: The CPI is compiled monthly with a one-month lag. The current weights are derived from the 2018 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES). A quarterly import price index with 2018 weights is also published with a lag of about six weeks. |
| Government Finance Statistics (GFS): Samoa compiles GFS for the general government, and reports data to the IMF’s annual GFS database. The latest submission includes data for FY2021. The authorities intend to expand the coverage for GFS and public sector debt statistics beyond general government to include the rest of the public sector. |
| Monetary and Financial Statistics (MFS): Samoa reports monetary data to the IMF for the central bank, other depository corporations, and other financial corporations (OFC) on a regular basis through standardized report forms (SRF). The coverage of data for OFCs could be further improved. Samoa reports data on several series and indicators of the Financial Access Survey (FAS), including mobile and internet banking, mobile money, gender-disaggregated data, and the two indicators (commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults and ATMs per 100,000 adults) adopted by the UN to monitor Target 8.10 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). |
| Financial Sector Surveillance: Samoa has been reporting Financial Soundness Indicators (FSIs) to the IMF since March 2016. The authorities report 13 core FSIs for deposit takers and one core FSI for real estate markets, as well as 6 additional FSIs for deposit takers, two FSIs for other financial corporations, two for insurance corporations, and three FSIs for real estate markets, with quarterly frequency. |
| External sector statistics (ESS): The Central Bank of Samoa (CBS) compiles and reports quarterly balance of payments data. The source of data on exports and imports of goods has been changed to Customs data, and the 2018 International Visitors Survey has been incorporated. The CBS also made progress in advancing the quarterly compilation of international investment position (IIP) and participating in the coordinated direct investment survey (CDIS). Further enhancements are necessary, including developing new data sources, improving validation procedures, addressing institutional issues such as inter-institutional data sharing and knowledge transfer procedures, and developing source data from non-financial corporations as well as offshore financial/non-financial companies. Developing the compilation of external debt statistics is ongoing. |
| II. Data Standards and Quality |
| Samoa was the first country in the region to implement the enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS) in 2017, starting to disseminate key macroeconomic and financial statistics through a web-based National Summary Data Page according to an advance release calendar. No data module ROSC has been conducted in Samoa. |
| I. Assessment of Data Adequacy for Surveillance |
| General: Data provision has some shortcomings but is broadly adequate for surveillance. Core macroeconomic and monetary data are regularly provided to the IMF, and published on official websites. However, there are weaknesses in national accounts, monetary and financial, and external sector statistics. |
| National Accounts: National accounts statistics have improved during the last three years. GDP by production at current and constant prices is compiled quarterly, predominantly using value-added tax data. Rebased GDP at 2013 prices was first published in April 2019. PFTAC is assisting in developing quarterly GDP by expenditure and reducing the statistics discrepancy between annual GDP by production and by expenditure. |
| Price Statistics: The CPI is compiled monthly with a one-month lag. The current weights are derived from the 2018 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES). A quarterly import price index with 2018 weights is also published with a lag of about six weeks. |
| Government Finance Statistics (GFS): Samoa compiles GFS for the general government, and reports data to the IMF’s annual GFS database. The latest submission includes data for FY2021. The authorities intend to expand the coverage for GFS and public sector debt statistics beyond general government to include the rest of the public sector. |
| Monetary and Financial Statistics (MFS): Samoa reports monetary data to the IMF for the central bank, other depository corporations, and other financial corporations (OFC) on a regular basis through standardized report forms (SRF). The coverage of data for OFCs could be further improved. Samoa reports data on several series and indicators of the Financial Access Survey (FAS), including mobile and internet banking, mobile money, gender-disaggregated data, and the two indicators (commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults and ATMs per 100,000 adults) adopted by the UN to monitor Target 8.10 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). |
| Financial Sector Surveillance: Samoa has been reporting Financial Soundness Indicators (FSIs) to the IMF since March 2016. The authorities report 13 core FSIs for deposit takers and one core FSI for real estate markets, as well as 6 additional FSIs for deposit takers, two FSIs for other financial corporations, two for insurance corporations, and three FSIs for real estate markets, with quarterly frequency. |
| External sector statistics (ESS): The Central Bank of Samoa (CBS) compiles and reports quarterly balance of payments data. The source of data on exports and imports of goods has been changed to Customs data, and the 2018 International Visitors Survey has been incorporated. The CBS also made progress in advancing the quarterly compilation of international investment position (IIP) and participating in the coordinated direct investment survey (CDIS). Further enhancements are necessary, including developing new data sources, improving validation procedures, addressing institutional issues such as inter-institutional data sharing and knowledge transfer procedures, and developing source data from non-financial corporations as well as offshore financial/non-financial companies. Developing the compilation of external debt statistics is ongoing. |
| II. Data Standards and Quality |
| Samoa was the first country in the region to implement the enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS) in 2017, starting to disseminate key macroeconomic and financial statistics through a web-based National Summary Data Page according to an advance release calendar. No data module ROSC has been conducted in Samoa. |
Samoa – Table of Common Indicators Required for Surveillance
(As of February 2023)
Data obtained directly from the Central Bank of Samoa.
Officially-determined rates (yields on central bank securities) and commercial banks’ deposit and lending rates.
Domestic and external financing. Samoa produces quarterly data for the budgetary central government only and produces annual data for the central government.
Daily (D), Weekly (W), Monthly (M), Quarterly (Q), Annually (A), Irregular (I); Not Available (NA).
Samoa – Table of Common Indicators Required for Surveillance
(As of February 2023)
| Date of latest observation | Date received | Frequency of Data4 | Frequency of Reporting4 | Frequency of Publication4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange Rates | 2/6/23 | 2/7/23 | D | D | D |
| International Reserve Assets and Reserve Liabilities of the Monetary Authorities | 12/23 | 1/31/23 | M | M | M |
| Reserve/Base Money | 12/23 | 1/31/23 | M | M | M |
| Broad Money | 12/23 | 1/31/23 | M | M | M |
| Central Bank Balance Sheet | 12/23 | 1/31/23 | M | M | M |
| Consolidated Balance Sheet of the Banking System1 | 12/23 | 1/31/23 | M | M | M |
| Interest Rates2 | 12/23 | 1/31/23 | M | M | M |
| Consumer Price Index | 12/23 | 1/18/23 | M | M | M |
| Revenue, Expenditure, Balance, and Composition of Financing3 – Central Budgetary Government | 2022: Q3 | 12/8/22 | Q | Q | Q |
| Stocks of Central Government and Central Government-Guaranteed Debt | 2022: Q3 | 12/8/22 | Q | Q | N/A |
| External Current Account Balance | 2022: Q3 | 12/31/22 | Q | Q | Q |
| Exports and Imports of Goods and Services | 2022: M11 | 1/14/23 | M | M | M |
| GDP | 2022: Q3 | 12/22/22 | Q | Q | Q |
| Gross External Debt | 2022: Q3 | 12/8/22 | Q | Q | Q |
| International Investment Position (IIP) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Data obtained directly from the Central Bank of Samoa.
Officially-determined rates (yields on central bank securities) and commercial banks’ deposit and lending rates.
Domestic and external financing. Samoa produces quarterly data for the budgetary central government only and produces annual data for the central government.
Daily (D), Weekly (W), Monthly (M), Quarterly (Q), Annually (A), Irregular (I); Not Available (NA).
Samoa – Table of Common Indicators Required for Surveillance
(As of February 2023)
| Date of latest observation | Date received | Frequency of Data4 | Frequency of Reporting4 | Frequency of Publication4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange Rates | 2/6/23 | 2/7/23 | D | D | D |
| International Reserve Assets and Reserve Liabilities of the Monetary Authorities | 12/23 | 1/31/23 | M | M | M |
| Reserve/Base Money | 12/23 | 1/31/23 | M | M | M |
| Broad Money | 12/23 | 1/31/23 | M | M | M |
| Central Bank Balance Sheet | 12/23 | 1/31/23 | M | M | M |
| Consolidated Balance Sheet of the Banking System1 | 12/23 | 1/31/23 | M | M | M |
| Interest Rates2 | 12/23 | 1/31/23 | M | M | M |
| Consumer Price Index | 12/23 | 1/18/23 | M | M | M |
| Revenue, Expenditure, Balance, and Composition of Financing3 – Central Budgetary Government | 2022: Q3 | 12/8/22 | Q | Q | Q |
| Stocks of Central Government and Central Government-Guaranteed Debt | 2022: Q3 | 12/8/22 | Q | Q | N/A |
| External Current Account Balance | 2022: Q3 | 12/31/22 | Q | Q | Q |
| Exports and Imports of Goods and Services | 2022: M11 | 1/14/23 | M | M | M |
| GDP | 2022: Q3 | 12/22/22 | Q | Q | Q |
| Gross External Debt | 2022: Q3 | 12/8/22 | Q | Q | Q |
| International Investment Position (IIP) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Data obtained directly from the Central Bank of Samoa.
Officially-determined rates (yields on central bank securities) and commercial banks’ deposit and lending rates.
Domestic and external financing. Samoa produces quarterly data for the budgetary central government only and produces annual data for the central government.
Daily (D), Weekly (W), Monthly (M), Quarterly (Q), Annually (A), Irregular (I); Not Available (NA).