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4-5 minutes March 20, 2019 Ghana is concluding its four-year ECF-supported program. Executive Board decision allows to disburse the last tranche of SDR132.84 million (about US$185.2 million) to Ghana. ECF-supported program paved the way for a significant improvement of Ghana’s macroeconomic performance, though challenges remain. On March 20, 2019, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the seventh and eight reviews under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) [1] supported arrangement. This will make available to Ghana the cumulative amount of SDR132.84 million (about US$185.2 million). Considering the authorities’ resolved to tackle difficult reforms, the Executive Board also approved the authorities’ request for a waiver of the nonobservance of a few program targets. Ghana’s three-year arrangement was approved on Apr

8-11 minutes March 10, 2019 On February 21, 2019, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) discussed a paper setting out the current state of international corporate income tax arrangements. The policy paper Corporate Taxation in The Global Economy , explores options that have been suggested for their future development, including several now being considered in global fora and considering the contribution of the Fund to debates and processes now underway. The IMF is not a standard setting body in this area. Intensive discussions of possible changes to the international tax system are now underway in the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)/the OECD, and the paper is intended to complement that work, reflecting the distinct contribution that the IMF’s broad membership, mandate, expertise and capacity building work position it to make. The paper builds on an earlier IMF analysis (

2-3 minutes January 29, 2019 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has completed the requirements for adherence to the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) Plus—the highest tier of the Data Standards Initiatives. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s SDDS Plus data  are now posted on the Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board. Mr. Louis Marc Ducharme, Chief Statistician and Data Officer of the IMF, welcomed the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s adherence and noted that “the dissemination of the new data sets under the SDDS Plus will be invaluable in fostering a deeper understanding and more informed assessments of the performance of FYR Macedonia’s financial sector, the cross-border-financial linkages, and the vulnerabilities of the economy to shocks.” The SDDS Plus builds on the SDDS and its purpose is to assist statistically advanced countries with regard to the publication of comprehensive, timely, an

Finance & Development, December 2018, Vol. 55, No. 4 PDF version Moving the Needle Maurice Obstfeld discusses his tenure as the IMF’s chief economist Retiring as chief economist of the International Monetary Fund at the end of 2018, Maurice Obstfeld shares his thoughts on trade tensions, widening inequality, the importance of education, and relations between United States and China in an interview with F&D ’s Gita Bhatt. Obstfeld plans to return to the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a prominent academic economist for 24 years and cowrote two leading textbooks on international economics. His successor at the IMF will be Harvard University’s Gita Gopinath. F&D: What worries you most on the macroeconomic front? MO: The worries are clearly set out in the World Economic Outlook : trade tensions and adjustment to differential financial conditions in an environment of much higher private an

December 10, 2018 Togo’s program aims to reinforce fiscal and financial stability and promote inclusive growth. Program implementation under the ECF arrangement has been satisfactory. On December 10, 2018, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the third review of Togo’s performance under the program supported by an Extended Credit Facility (ECF). Program performance has been satisfactory. All quantitative performance criteria and three out of five structural benchmarks were met. The completion of the review enables the disbursement of SDR25.17 million (about US$34.9 million), bringing total disbursements since the beginning of the arrangement to SDR100.68 million (about US$139.5 million). Togo’s three-year arrangement was approved on May 5, 2017 (see Press Release No. 17/151 ) for SDR176.16 million (120 percent of quota or about US$241.5 million at the time of approval of the arrangement) to support th

December 6, 2018 A Concluding Statement describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at the end of an official staff visit (or ‘mission’), in most cases to a member country. Missions are undertaken as part of regular (usually annual) consultations under Article IV of the IMF's Articles of Agreement, in the context of a request to use IMF resources (borrow from the IMF), as part of discussions of staff monitored programs, or as part of other staff monitoring of economic developments. The authorities have consented to the publication of this statement. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF Executive Board for discussion and decision. An IMF team visited the Netherlands during November 27 – De

November 27, 2018 On November 26, 2018 , the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed its review of Mexico’s qualification for the arrangement under the Flexible Credit Line (FCL) and reaffirmed Mexico’s continued qualification to access FCL resources. At the request of the Mexican authorities for a reduction of access under the FCL arrangement for Mexico consistent with their intention last year , the Executive Board approved the FCL access of SDR 53.4762 billion (about US$74 billion [1] ). The Mexican authorities stated their intention to continue treating the arrangement as precautionary. The current two-year FCL arrangement for Mexico was approved by the IMF’s Executive Board on November 29, 2017 for an original access amount equivalent to SDR 62.3889 billion (about US$86 billion) (see Press Release No. 17/459 ). Mexico’s first FCL arrangement was approved on April 17, 2009 (see Press Release No. 09/130 ), and was renewed on March 25, 2010 (see Pr

imf.org A worker assembles aluminum panels for passenger jets at an aerospace industry assembly plant in Querétaro, Mexico: improving gender gaps in the country is vital for economic growth (photo: Benedicte Desrus/Sipa USA/Newscom) IMF Country Focus November 8, 2018 Mexico's economy grew moderately this year, supported mainly by domestic demand, with growth projected at 2.1 percent for 2018, the IMF said in its latest annual economic assessment. Economic activity in Mexico has remained resilient despite political and economic uncertainty in the first half of 2018, caused by the lead up to the elections and the US-Mexico-Canada trade negotiations. That said, the country continues to face challenges that include raising living standards by reducing poverty and inequality, as well as addressing crime and corruption. To tackle these challenges and boost growth in a way that w

imf.org October 23, 2018 On June 13, 2018 the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the 2018 Article IV consultation [1] and established performance criteria for the second review under the Stand-By Arrangement with Kenya. Kenya has maintained strong growth in recent years and external imbalances have narrowed, strengthening resilience to shocks. The business environment continues to improve, supporting private investment. However, a severe drought, an extended presidential election, and weak bank lending—due in part to interest rate controls—slowed growth in 2017. In addition, public debt has risen as revenue shortfalls have not been matched by spending cuts. Moreover, interest rate controls continue to hamper lending (especially to small- and medium-size enterprises), growth, and monetary policy. The Executive Board approved a six-month extension of Kenya’s SBA until