Review Of Access Limits And Surcharge Policies

Scope and strategy: This paper reviews access limits and surcharge policies in the Fund’s General Resources Account (GRA). It builds on the preliminary Executive Board discussion that took place in May 2014, against the backdrop of the 14th Review quotas expected to become effective early in 2016, which will on average double individual members’ quotas. At the meeting in 2014, most Directors considered that a moderate increase in normal access limits in SDR terms would broadly restore the normal Fund access to levels considered acceptable in 2009, and saw merit in adjusting the surcharge threshold to allow for a moderate increase in the SDR value of credit not subject to the charge.

The Board completed its last review of access policy in February 2008 (2008 Access Policy Review). At that time, while some Directors saw the need for an increase in the limits on normal access to Fund resources, most Directors supported maintaining the access limits in the credit tranches and under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the separate overall limits on access to resources in the General Resources Account (GRA) at the present level of 100 percent of quota on an annual basis and 300 percent on a cumulative basis. During the 2008 Spring Meetings, the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) encouraged the Executive Board to consider raising access limits. In doing so, the IMFC recognized that emerging market and developing countries are not immune to a broadening of the problems in financial markets and looked forward to reviewing progress at its next meeting. A fresh look at access limits is warranted in light of the broader review of the Fund’s lending framework which is underway, and to take account of the April 28, 2008 agreement on a second round of ad hoc quota increases under the quota and voice reform.

protracted global uncertainty combined with frequent episodes of capital flow volatility have intensified demand for liquidity support. In response to calls from the IMFC and the G20, the Fund has identified gaps in the global financial safety net (GFSN) and the Fund’s lending toolkit for crisis prevention, including insufficient coverage against liquidity pressures resulting from volatile capital flows. The proposals in this paper draw on the previous Fund work on the adequacy of the GFSN, the review of the Fund’s current toolkit for crisis prevention, and extensive consultations with the membership. The review of the FCL concludes that the FCL has been effective in providing precautionary support against external tail risks. Successor FCL arrangements and associated access levels have been in line with the assessment of external risks and potential balance of payments needs. However, there is scope to strengthen the transparency and predictability of the qualification framework by adding indicator-based thresholds to complement and inform judgment. To enhance crisis resilience while improving the Fund’s toolkit coherence and resource use, the paper proposes three complementary reforms: The establishment of a Short-term Liquidity Swap to provide renewable and reliable liquidity support against potential short-term moderate volatility of capital flows. The proposed instrument is for members with very strong fundamentals and economic policies, and tailored to improve reliability and appeal to users. The use of a core set of indicators with thresholds to guide judgment in FCL qualification. This will improve predictability and transparency while keeping the standards unchanged. The elimination of the PLL to maintain a streamlined and coherent toolkit, given the low use of the PLL, likely reflecting issues of tiering with the FCL. The paper also discusses possible reforms of the current commitment fee policy to promote a more balanced use of Fund resources. Possible options include increasing the commitment fee at high access levels or introducing a new time-based commitment fee.

IMF Financial Operations 2018 provides a broad introduction to how the IMF fulfills its mission through its financial activities. It covers the financial structure and operations of the IMF and provides background detail on the financial statements. It reviews the IMF's three main activities: lending, surveillance, and technical assistance.

IMF Financial Operations 2016 provides a broad introduction to how the IMF fulfills its mission through its financial activities. It covers the financial structure and operations of the IMF and also provides background detail of the financial statements for the IMF's activities during the most recent financial year. This publication (currently in its third edition) updates a previous report entitled Financial Organization and Operations of the IMF, first published in 1986 and last issued in 2001 (the sixth edition). That 2001 report reflected the seismic shifts in the global economy and in the IMF's structure and operations that occurred after the fall of the Soviet Union and the various currency and financial crises of the 1990s. This revised and updated report covers more recent developments, including reform of the IMF’s income model, measures taken in response to the global financial crisis of 2007–09, and the institutional reforms aimed at ensuring that the IMF's governance structure evolves in line with developments in the global economy.

This paper proposes a package of policy reforms and a funding strategy to ensure that the Fund has the capacity to respond flexibly to LICs’ needs during the pandemic and recovery. The key policy reforms proposed include: • raising the normal annual/cumulative limits on access to PRGT resources to 145/435 percent of quota, the same thresholds for normal access in the GRA; • eliminating the hard limits on exceptional access (EA) to PRGT resources for the poorest LICs, enabling them to obtain all financing on concessional terms if the EA criteria are met; • changes to the framework for blending concessional and non-concessional resources to make it more robust and less complex; • stronger safeguards to address concerns regarding debt sustainability and capacity to repay the Fund; and • retaining zero interest rates on PRGT loans, consistent with the established rules for setting these interest rates.

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The Fund’s total net income for FY 2016 including surcharges is projected at about SDR 1.0 billion or some SDR 0.15 billion higher than expected in April 2015. Lending income continues to be the main source of income and is in line with April 2015 estimates. Investment income has fallen reflecting the decline in equity markets that exceeded the modest returns on fixed income securities. As a result of the 5-yearly review of key actuarial assumptions, the IAS 19 adjustment (relating to reporting of employee benefits) is expected to contribute about SDR 0.3 billion to net income in FY 2016. The paper recommends that GRA net income of SDR 1.1 billion for FY 2016 (which excludes projected losses of the gold endowment), be placed equally to the special and general reserve. After the placement to reserves, precautionary balances are projected to reach SDR 15.2 billion at the end of FY 2016. Following the completion of the Board’s review of the investment strategy for the Fixed-Income Subaccount, the paper further proposes to transfer currencies equivalent to the increase of the Fund’s reserves for FY 2014 and FY 2015 (totaling SDR 2.6 billion) and FY 2016 (estimated at SDR 1.1 billion), from the GRA to the Investment Account. The paper proposes that the margin for the rate of charge be set at 100 basis points for the two years FY 2017 and FY 2018. This follows a comprehensive review of the underlying factors relevant for the establishment of the margin this year and also takes into account the impact of the inclusion of the renminbi in the SDR basket on Fund income and borrowing costs. The projections for FY 2017 and FY 2018 point to a net income position of SDR 1 billion and SDR 0.7 billion, respectively. These projections are subject to considerable uncertainty and are sensitive to a number of assumptions.