A QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER FOR CIVIL SOCIETY

We are pleased to announce this new quarterly newsletter from the IMF, which updates civil society organizations about the work of the Fund. The newsletter contains short descriptions of new developments relevant to civil society, and also provides references for further reading. A bulletin board lists new research and discussion papers, upcoming conferences, and other relevant information. The newsletter is published in English, French and Spanish.

Our intention is to make the newsletter email-based. We welcome any suggestions that you might have on its content and presentation. If you would like to subscribe, or if you have comments or questions, please send an email to ngoliaison@imf.org or contact the NGO liaison officer, Simonetta Nardin, by phone at (202) 623-4899 or by fax at (202) 623-8769.

All the documents and papers referenced in the newsletter can be printed from the web. If you have problems accessing the links or downloading the PDF-formatted documents, let us know and we will be happy to send you copies. You may contact us at the numbers or email address listed above.

*****

In this issue:

• IMF, World Bank review approach to poverty reduction
• IMF to present outcome of PRSP review at Financing for Development conference
• IMF proposal for restructuring sovereign debt sparks debate
• Evaluation of prolonged use of Fund resources
• Köhler, Wolfensohn meet civil society representatives in Washington
• Bulletin Board

*****

IMF, World Bank review approach to poverty reduction

The Executive Boards of the IMF and the World Bank reviewed the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) approach on March 8 and March 12, respectively. The papers will be posted on the two institutions’ websites shortly.

The review relied extensively on an external consultation process involving civil society organizations, governments, donors, and academia. PRSP stakeholders were invited to submit comments by email. IMF and World Bank staffs also consulted a wide array of papers written by civil society and academia, and organized four regional PRSP conferences that took place in Dakar, Santa Cruz Bolivia, Hanoi and Budapest.

This process culminated in an international PRSP conference that brought together 200 representatives from 60 countries in Washington in January. The consultation process  resulted in many suggestions on how to improve the content and quality of PRSPs. They included a better prioritization of goals; more realistic growth projections; taking into account economic shocks; enhancing capacity building; providing more attention to issues that cut across sectors; and focusing more on alternative policy options.

The IMF Executive Board also reviewed the experience with its Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) on March 8. The review, which was based on views collected from participating countries, development partners, civil society organizations, and academia, examined whether the PRGF has met its objectives and considered possible improvements. A staff report summarizing the findings of the review and containing recommendations will be made public shortly.

The IMF and the World Bank will present the outcome of the Board discussions and discuss next steps with civil society and donors at the UN conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey (see below).

Further reading:

The February 11 issue of the IMF Survey has an in-depth summary of the Washington conference. The article is also available in French (February 18 issue) and Spanish (February 18 issue). You may also refer to the joint IMF-World Bank description of the PRSP approach and to a press release describing the outcome of the Washington conference.

Please visit the public information notice and newsbrief pages on the IMF website for more information on the PRSP and PRGF reviews.

*****

IMF to present PRSP review at Financing for Development conference in Monterrey

The summary paper of the PRSP review will be one of the important contributions to the UN Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico, which will take place on March 18–22.

Masood Ahmed, Deputy Director of the IMF Policy Development and Review Department, and John Page, Director of the World Bank’s Poverty Reduction Group, will present the paper and discuss the outcome of the Board discussions at a side event organized during the conference. The event will take place inside the conference building on March 20, at lunchtime, and all interested parties are invited to join in the discussion.

You can contact Simonetta Nardin by email at ngoliaison@imf.org or, starting March 13, in Monterrey on her cell phone at (202) 493-9183 to receive more information on these events.

*****

IMF proposal for restructuring sovereign debt sparks debate

Anne Krueger, First Deputy Managing Director at the IMF, proposed a new approach to sovereign debt restructuring in a groundbreaking speech in November. The proposal represents an important step forward in the IMF’s ongoing work to make the private sector assume greater responsibility in resolving financial crises. The fear that sovereign debt restructuring will be unnecessarily painful currently discourages many debtor countries from renegotiating their loan terms before it is too late. A sovereign debt restructuring mechanism could make the process less protracted and costly and help preserve debtor countries’  reserves. A debtor country would receive legal protection from creditors while a restructuring is being negotiated, in return for a pledge to negotiate in good faith and adopt sound policies. The proposal also would require dissenting creditors to accept a restructuring agreement once it has been accepted by a large majority of creditors.

The proposal has already been the subject of much public debate. Governments, the private sector, and civil society are currently focusing on questions such as which countries should benefit from the mechanism; what should be the role of the IMF; should debts owed to the IMF be restructured along with those owed to the private sector; and will a debt restructuring mechanism reduce the amount of private capital flowing to emerging market countries.

In a contribution to an online forum discussion of the SDRM proposal organized by EURODAD, EXR Director Thomas Dawson presented the IMF’s point of view on some of these issues. The debate continues, including at the UN conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, where an IMF representative will debate the issue in a side event organized by CIDSE on March 19 at 6:15 p.m.

Further reading:

Anne Krueger has elaborated her proposal in two more speeches in Australia and India, and in a recent interview with the French newspaper Le Monde.

*****

Evaluation of prolonged use of Fund resources

As its first case, the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) has decided to focus on the prolonged use of IMF resources. Some twenty-five countries have been indebted to the IMF for more than thirty years out of the last fifty. Sixteen countries have had IMF-supported programs for twelve years or more out of the last eighteen. In the issues paper, the IEO argues that such prolonged use risks turning the IMF into a source of long-term financing, in contradiction with its mandate. Many of these countries have acute debt sustainability problems and most are now enrolled in the HIPC initiative.

The study will be based on an examination of three countries that have been repeat users of IMF resources, namely Pakistan, the Philippines, and Senegal. The draft issues paper is available on the IEO website.

The IEO has called for comments on the paper. The final version will be released by mid-March and the public will then have until May 3 to submit their contributions. Comments may be submitted by email to ieo@imf.org. You can subscribe to the IEO notification service (scroll down to Releases of the IEO) if you want to be notified about the publication of future IEO documents. For more information, you may either refer to the IEO website or contact the IEO office at (202) 623-7312.

*****

Köhler and Wolfensohn meet with civil society representatives

On January 17, at the end of the Conference on Poverty Reduction Strategies, the heads of the IMF and the World Bank met with around 35 participants from civil society to discuss issues of mutual concern. PRSPs were high on the agenda but other issues, such as trade, the environment, human and labor rights, were also discussed.

You can read the transcript of the conference on our website.

*****

BULLETIN BOARD

If you are want to be notified when new documents are being published on the IMF website, please sign up for our website notification system. The service is being updated regularly, so watch for more options.

Staff News

§                     Anoop Singh was appointed in late February as Director for Special Operations, a newly created position within the IMF. The unit was created to enhance the ability of the Fund to respond to critical situations. Singh will immediately assume leadership for the IMF staff team that is working with the Argentine authorities. He was Deputy Director in the Asian Department before taking up his new position.

§                     Abdoulaye Bio-Tchané, former Finance Minister in Benin, assumed his functions as Director of the African Department on March 1. He succeeds G.E. Gondwe, a national of Malawi, who retired in February after heading the African Department for three years. The appointment was announced in January.

Upcoming Events

§                     The IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings have been advanced by one day and will now take place on April 20 and 21, 2002. We will keep you posted on NGO-related activities during the week before the Spring Meetings.

§                     The Second IMF’s Conference on Macroeconomic Policies and Poverty Reduction will take place in Washington, D.C., on March 14 and 15, 2002. Speakers will include academic scholars as well as researchers from the Fund. In addition, a number of invited policy-makers and representatives of civil society organizations from around the world will attend and participate in the discussion. The conference is open to the public but you need to pre-register by email Macro&PovConf@imf.org or by fax to Usha David 202 623-4740.

Speeches

§                     Working for a Better Globalization, a speech by Horst Köhler to the Conference on Humanizing the Global Economy, Sponsored by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, El Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano, and The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC, January 28, 2002. Text is also available in French.

Recent Papers

§                     Poverty Reduction, Growth and Debt Sustainability in Low-Income CIS Countries, a joint IMF-World Bank-ADB and EBRD paper, also available in Russian.

§                     Globalization Facts and Figures by Paul Masson, Policy Discussion Paper No. 01/4.

§                     Reviewing Some Early Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers in Africa, by Caroline Robb and Alison Scott, Policy Discussion Paper No. 01/5.

§                     Providing Health Care to HIV Patients in Southern Africa, by Markus Haacker, Policy Discussion Paper No. 01/3.

§                     The Economic Consequences of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa, by Markus Haacker, Working Paper No. 02/38

§                     The IMF and Civil Society: Striking A Balance, by Thomas C. Dawson II and Gita V. Bhatt, Policy Discussion Paper No.01/2.

Issues Briefs

§                     Global Trade Liberalization and the Developing Countries. Also available in Spanish and French.

§                     100 Percent Debt Cancellation? A Response from the IMF and the World Bank. Also available in Spanish and French.

CONTACT INFORMATION

UPDATE FORM

The IMF is currently updating all contact information for civil society. Please take a moment to fill out the information below. This will help insure that you receive our civil society newsletter and other updates from the IMF in a timely manner.

Please enclose contact information below or mail business card stapled to this form.

Organization______________________________________________________________________

Street______________________________________________________Suite_________________

City_________________________________State__________________Postal Code____________

Country__________________________________________________________________________

Phone_________________________________Fax________________________________________

Website__________________________________________________________________________

Contact Person__________________________________________________________ ¨       Male

Position________________________________________________________________  ¨   Female

E-mail____________________________________________________________________________

I would like to receive the civil society newsletter by: ¨         E-mail ¨         Mail ¨         Fax

I would like to receive the civil society newsletter in ¨         English ¨         French ¨         Spanish

Please mail the completed form to          IMF NGO Liaison Office, EXR

700 19^th Street, NW, Room 12-404

Washington, DC 20431

U.S.A.

fax it to             1 (202) 623-8769

or send the information by email to:         ngoliaison@imf.org

If we do not hear from you by May 1, 2002, we will assume that you are not interested in receiving the civil sociey newsletter and other updates from the IMF.