Debt Limits in Fund Programs with Low-Income Countries

Debt Limits in Fund Programs with Low-Income Countries
Author: International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 39
Release: 2013-12-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498341039

This annotated presentation on the debt limits policy (DLP) for Fund programs with low income countries (LICs) was discussed at an informal session of the IMF Executive Board on January 10, 2014. The presentation contains a proposed new approach to the handling of external borrowing limits in such programs, building on the analysis contained in an earlier paper, discussed by the IMF Board in March 2013. The January 10 Board discussion provided staff with suggestions on how to refine their proposals, but the Board did not take a position on the merits of the proposed approach. IMF staff are to present a formal proposal to modify the IMF’s Debt Limits Policy (which covers all IMF lending programs, not merely those with low income countries) for consideration by the Fund’s Executive Board in the coming months.

Debt Limits in Fund Programs with Low-Income Countries

Debt Limits in Fund Programs with Low-Income Countries
Author: Internationaler Währungsfonds
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre:
ISBN:

This annotated presentation on the debt limits policy (DLP) for Fund programs with low income countries (LICs) was discussed at an informal session of the IMF Executive Board on January 10, 2014. The presentation contains a proposed new approach to the handling of external borrowing limits in such programs, building on the analysis contained in an earlier paper, discussed by the IMF Board in March 2013. The January 10 Board discussion provided staff with suggestions on how to refine their proposals, but the Board did not take a position on the merits of the proposed approach. IMF staff are to present a formal proposal to modify the IMF's Debt Limits Policy (which covers all IMF lending programs, not merely those with low income countries) for consideration by the Fund's Executive Board in the coming months.

Classification of Low-Income Countries for the Purpose of Debt Limits in Fund-Supported Programs - 2011 Update

Classification of Low-Income Countries for the Purpose of Debt Limits in Fund-Supported Programs - 2011 Update
Author: International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 5
Release: 2011-08-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 149833816X

This short paper informs the Executive Board of staff’s assessment of macroeconomic and public financial management capacity (henceforth “capacity”) in PRGT-eligible countries (henceforth “low-income countries”) with Fund-supported programs for the purpose of setting debt limits. Capacity plays an important role in the framework for debt limits. This framework includes a menu of options for concessionality requirements to reflect the diversity of situations in low-income countries (LICs). Eligibility for a particular option is related to an assessment of debt vulnerabilities and capacity.

Reform of the Policy on Public Debt Limits in Fund-Supported Programs

Reform of the Policy on Public Debt Limits in Fund-Supported Programs
Author: International Monetary Fund
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 46
Release: 2014-11-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498342566

The reform of the Fund’s policy on the use of conditionality on public external debt in Fund-supported programs (the “debt limits policy”) has been under discussion since March 2013. The discussion has taken place against a backdrop where lower income countries are seeking to boost growth through higher public investment levels, targeted in particular at large infrastructure gaps, while facing both a wider range of external financing opportunities and limits on the supply of traditional concessional financing. The reform of the Fund’s policy on debt conditionality in 2009 was a first step to accommodate these new realities: experience with the 2009 reforms has pointed to the need for more fundamental reforms to provide countries with greater flexibility to finance productive investments while containing risks to medium-term debt sustainability. The reforms proposed here build on the Board review of the debt limits policy in March 2013, ensuing informal Board discussions in January and May 2014, discussions at an informal seminar in September 2014, and various stakeholder consultations. In developing this reform proposal, staff has sought to first specify a robust set of principles to guide the use of public debt conditionality in all Fund arrangements and then examine how these principles should apply in the specific circumstances of countries that normally rely on official external concessional financing.

Debt Limits in Fund-Supported Programs - Proposed New Guidelines

Debt Limits in Fund-Supported Programs - Proposed New Guidelines
Author: International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 37
Release: 2009-05-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498335748

Low-income countries (LICs) face significant challenges in meeting their development objectives, while maintaining a sustainable debt position. To address this dilemma, the international community has largely advocated recourse to concessional external finance. The Fund’s existing policy and practice on external debt limits conforms to this preference.

Review of the Policy on Debt Limits in Fund-Supported Programs

Review of the Policy on Debt Limits in Fund-Supported Programs
Author: International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 48
Release: 2013-03-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498342183

This review examines the experience with the policy on debt limits in Fund-supported programs across the membership and proposes possible reforms to strengthen the policy. The policy was last reformed in 2009 with a view to adapting it to the changing circumstances in low-income countries (LICs). Given its primary focus on LICs, the reform left the policy applying to the rest of the membership broadly unchanged. The Fund’s debt limits policy has been in place since the 1960s. From the policy’s inception, concessional flows have been excluded from debt limits under the presumption that such financing was critical for LICs and posed only limited risks to debt sustainability. Over time, the exclusion of concessional flows has led to a bifurcation in the policy, with one branch focusing on members to whom concessional financing is normally available, and the other on those to whom it is not—a distinction which in practical terms has involved differentiating between LICs and non-LICs.

Review of the Policy on Debt Limits in Fund-Supported Programs

Review of the Policy on Debt Limits in Fund-Supported Programs
Author: Internationaler Währungsfonds
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre:
ISBN:

This review examines the experience with the policy on debt limits in Fund-supported programs across the membership and proposes possible reforms to strengthen the policy. The policy was last reformed in 2009 with a view to adapting it to the changing circumstances in low-income countries (LICs). Given its primary focus on LICs, the reform left the policy applying to the rest of the membership broadly unchanged. The Fund's debt limits policy has been in place since the 1960s. From the policy's inception, concessional flows have been excluded from debt limits under the presumption that such financing was critical for LICs and posed only limited risks to debt sustainability. Over time, the exclusion of concessional flows has led to a bifurcation in the policy, with one branch focusing on members to whom concessional financing is normally available, and the other on those to whom it is not-a distinction which in practical terms has involved differentiating between LICs and non-LICs.

Changing Patterns in Low-Income Country Financing and Implications for Fund Policies on External Financing and Debt

Changing Patterns in Low-Income Country Financing and Implications for Fund Policies on External Financing and Debt
Author: International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 50
Release: 2009-02-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498336256

Low-income countries (LICs) face significant challenges in meeting their development objectives while maintaining a sustainable debt position. The international community’s main answer to this dilemma has been to promote recourse to concessional external resources. The Fund’s recommendations to LICs conform to this preference: the practice in Fund-supported programs in LICs has generally been to set zero limits on nonconcessional external borrowing while not restricting concessional financing, although flexibility has been applied on a case-by-case basis to allow some nonconcessional borrowing when warranted.

Classification of Low-Income Countries for the Purpose of Debt Limits in Fund-Supported Programs

Classification of Low-Income Countries for the Purpose of Debt Limits in Fund-Supported Programs
Author: Internationaler Währungsfonds
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre:
ISBN:

This short paper informs the Executive Board of staff's assessment of macroeconomic and public financial management capacity (henceforth 'capacity') in PRGT-eligible countries (henceforth 'low-income countries') with Fund-supported programs for the purpose of setting debt limits. Capacity plays an important role in the framework for debt limits. This framework includes a menu of options for concessionality requirements to reflect the diversity of situations in low-income countries (LICs). Eligibility for a particular option is related to an assessment of debt vulnerabilities and capacity.