Temporary Modifications To Access Limits Under The Large Natural Disaster Window Of The Rapid Credit Facility And Of The Rapid Financing Instrument
Temporary Modifications To Access Limits Under The Large Natural Disaster Window Of The Rapid Credit Facility And Of The Rapid Financing Instrument

Author: International Monetary

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-06-21

Total Pages: 14

ISBN-13: 1513587404

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To help support members faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fund temporarily increased certain access limits to its emergency financing (EF) instruments, i.e., Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) and Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI). While this expanded support has been critical to help countries manage the pandemic, the increase in access limits was not applied to the Large Natural Disasters (LND) windows within the EF toolkit, reducing the flexibility to respond to such LNDs. This paper proposes to temporarily increase by 50 percent of quota the annual access limit (AAL) and cumulative access limit (CAL) under the LND windows of the RCF and RFI. The changes to the “LND windows” would be in effect through end-December 2021, in line with the other temporary changes of access limits under EF instruments. The case for further extensions to all the temporarily increased EF AALs and CALs will be examined after the 2021 Annual Meetings.

Review of The Cumulative Access Limits Under The Rapid Financing Instrument and The Rapid Credit Facility
Review of The Cumulative Access Limits Under The Rapid Financing Instrument and The Rapid Credit Facility

Author: International Monetary Fund. Finance Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2023-06-30

Total Pages: 25

ISBN-13:

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The IMF extended the temporarily higher Cumulative Access Limits under the Fund’s Emergency Financing instruments, the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) under the General Resources Account, and the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust. This extension ensures that the Fund can continue to support member countries that accessed Fund’s emergency financing during COVID-19 pandemic in case of renewed emergency situations. The temporarily higher cumulative access limits under the RFI will be maintained until end-June 2024 when most RFI recipients will have repaid a significant part of their past emergency financing. The temporarily higher cumulative access limits under the RCF will be maintained until the completion of the 2024/25 comprehensive review of the Fund’s concessional facilities and financing, given the longer repayment schedule for RCF financing.

Review Of Temporary Modifications To The Fund’s Access Limits In Response To The Covid-19 Pandemic
Review Of Temporary Modifications To The Fund’s Access Limits In Response To The Covid-19 Pandemic

Author: International Monetary

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-12-22

Total Pages: 27

ISBN-13: 1616357320

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Over the course of the pandemic, the Fund has made several modifications to the access limits on the use of Fund’s resources to increase the borrowing space under the hard caps on emergency financing and under the annual limits that trigger exceptional access (EA) safeguards under GRA and PRGT. The current temporarily-increased access limits expire at end-December 2021, and absent policy changes, the limits would return to the lower pre-pandemic levels or to the new PRGT annual access limit. Staff proposes to let all access limits return to pre-pandemic levels (or the new PRGT annual access limit), with the exception of the cumulative access limits for emergency financing instruments, which would be extended at the current level for another 18 months.

Proposal for a Food Shock Window Under the Rapid Financing Instrument and Rapid Credit Facility
Proposal for a Food Shock Window Under the Rapid Financing Instrument and Rapid Credit Facility

Author: International Monetary

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2022-10-05

Total Pages: 21

ISBN-13:

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Russia’s war in Ukraine has exacerbated global economic pressures, including through a food shock. The war and food-related spillovers—higher import prices for food and fertilizer and disruptions in supply lines for food importers, and a loss of revenue for some food exporters—add to urgent balance-of-payments (BOP) needs of many Fund members. They have also exacerbated acute food insecurity, now affecting 345 million people. While the best response to address BOP pressures would generally involve an Upper Credit Tranche-quality program, such a program may not be feasible in some cases or necessary in others. This paper proposes a time-bound food shock window under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) and the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) to provide support to members in such situations. The new window would be temporary and provide low-access emergency financing that increases the amounts currently available under the RFI/RCF. Members would need to demonstrate urgent BOP needs and meet a set of qualification criteria related to the global food shock. The window would be available for 12 months from the date of Board approval of the window. Countries requesting financing under the window would also need to meet the standard qualification criteria under the RFI/RCF.

International Monetary Fund Annual Report 2021
International Monetary Fund Annual Report 2021

Author: International Monetary Fund. Secretary's Department

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-10-04

Total Pages: 74

ISBN-13: 1513568817

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A recovery is underway, but the economic fallout from the global pandemic could be with us for years to come. With the crisis exacerbating prepandemic vulnerabilities, country prospects are diverging. Nearly half of emerging market and developing economies and some middle-income countries are now at risk of falling further behind, undoing much of the progress made toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Interim Review of Access Limits Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust and Initial Considerations for Access Limits Under the General Resource Account
Interim Review of Access Limits Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust and Initial Considerations for Access Limits Under the General Resource Account

Author: International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2023-12-15

Total Pages: 42

ISBN-13:

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The interim review on PRGT access limits follows the call from the Executive Board in March 2023 and confirmed by the IMFC in October 2023. Low-income countries (LICs) face high economic uncertainty and pressures, while grappling with limited policy space and a funding squeeze. In March 2023, access limits under the General Resources Account (GRA) were temporarily increased for 12 months to give space for countries to face such economic pressures. The IMF Executive Board emphasized the importance of the alignment of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) access limits with those of the GRA that was achieved in 2021. The Board also agreed that, once substantial progress with PRGT fundraising toward the SDR 2.3 billion first-stage target for subsidy resources agreed in 2021 has been made—with total pledges of SDR 2 billion or more—access limits under the PRGT would be reviewed at an ad hoc interim review. This target has now been reached, paving the way for the review, also called for by the IMFC during the Annual Meetings in October 2023, in a context where the LICs’ economic challenges have further increased, including due to the risk of additional negative spillovers on the global economy stemming from the current geopolitical tensions and conflicts.

Statement by the Managing Director on the Work Program of the Executive Board Executive Board Meeting: June 10, 2021
Statement by the Managing Director on the Work Program of the Executive Board Executive Board Meeting: June 10, 2021

Author: International Monetary Fund

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-07-15

Total Pages: 4

ISBN-13: 1513589539

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An unprecedented policy response and rapid progress in vaccinations have helped pull the global economy from a deep recession, but the outlook is marked by high uncertainty and great divergence. Against this background, the Fund continues its efforts to achieve a durable exit from the crisis, minimize long-term scarring, and build a more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive global economy. In line with the strategic directions laid out in the Spring 2021 Global Policy Agenda and the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) Communiqué, this Work Program puts forward a prioritized Board agenda focused on activities of most critical importance to our members.

Fund Concessional Financial Support For Low-Income Countries—Responding To The Pandemic
Fund Concessional Financial Support For Low-Income Countries—Responding To The Pandemic

Author: International Monetary Fund

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-07-22

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 1513589636

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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.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for St. Vincent and the Grenadines
St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Author: International Monetary

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-07-19

Total Pages: 58

ISBN-13: 1513589822

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An explosive volcanic eruption that began on April 9 is hitting St. Vincent and the Grenadines hard, creating an urgent balance of payments need and a humanitarian crisis as the country continues to deal with the fallout from the global pandemic. The economy is estimated to have contracted in 2020 by 3.8 percent as tourism activity fell 70 percent. Before the eruption, economic growth was expected to be flat in 2021, as the global pandemic continued, and tourism remained depressed. While there is considerable uncertainty about the evolution of the eruption, staff estimate the infrastructure damage to exceed 20 percent of GDP and for the economy to contract by 6.1 percent in 2021 with agriculture and related sectors severely affected.

2023 Handbook of IMF Facilities for Low-Income Countries
2023 Handbook of IMF Facilities for Low-Income Countries

Author: International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2023-04-21

Total Pages: 191

ISBN-13:

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This Handbook provides guidance to staff on the IMF’s concessional financial facilities and non-financial instruments for low-income countries (LICs), defined here as all countries eligible to obtain concessional financing from the Fund. It updates the previous version of the Handbook that was published in December 2017 (IMF, 2017e) by incorporating modifications resulting from the 2018–19 Review of Facilities for Low-Income Countries and Review of the Financing of the Fund’s Concessional Assistance and Debt Relief to Low-Income Member Countries (IMF, 2019a, b), approved by the Board in May 2019; the reforms introduced in 2021 on the basis of the Board paper Fund Concessional Financial Support for Low-Income Countries—Responding to the Pandemic (IMF, 2021a), approved in July 2021; and a number of other recent Board papers. Designed as a comprehensive reference tool for program work on LICs, the Handbook also refers, in summary form, to a range of relevant policies that apply more generally to IMF members. As with all guidance notes, the relevant IMF Executive Board decisions including the terms of the various LIC Trust Instruments that have been adopted by the Board, remain the primary legal authority on the matters covered in the Handbook.