This paper reviews progress under the Fund's strengthened cooperative strategy on overdue financial obligations. Since the last review, total arrears to the Fund declined by SDR 17.5 million to SDR 1,309.5 million. Payments to the Fund by Sudan and Zimbabwe were in excess of new obligations...

The author-a top decision maker at the IMF for two decades-first focuses on the system of quotas and voting power in the IMF and concludes that it calls for reforms to enhance equity among the membership. He then examines decision making in the Executive Board, with an emphasis on consensus...

On May 21, 2008, the Executive Board discussed the report of the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) on 'Aspects of IMF Corporate Governance - Including the Role of the Executive Board'. The Joint Statement issued by the Executive Board and the Managing Director following the Board discussion...

This paper describes the compilation of the first truly comprehensive database on gross government debt-to-GDP ratios, covering nearly the entire IMF membership (174 countries) and spanning an exceptionally long time period. The database was constructed by bringing together a number of other...

Full text also available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Despite signs of recovery and resilience in some economies, global growth continues to disappoint, with the expected pick-up driven primarily by emerging markets. This persistent underperformance has exposed...

The global recovery has suffered new setbacks with uncertainty weighing heavily on confidence and prospects. Output is contracting in the euro area and growth has decelerated in many other advanced economies and major emerging markets. Markets have been buoyed by central bank action in the...

The global economy has avoided the worst, but it is by no means out of the woods, and prospects may be diverging. A three-speed global recovery is emerging. Sentiment has improved, but growth and jobs are still lagging in many places, some old risks remain and could rekindle tail risks, and new...

The IMF's surveillance over its member's economic policies is one of the institution's central activities. In keeping with the increasing transparency of the IMF; the Executive Board askes a group of independent external experts to evaluate IMF surveillance, to assess the effectiveness of such...