United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office General Government Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-06-22 monographic deposited born digital 192 p. GA 1.13:GGD/NSIAD-99-168 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-NSIAD-99-168 P0b002ee180385867 f:g499168 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GGD-NSIAD-99-168 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GGD-NSIAD-99-168 GGD/NSIAD-99-168 Foreign governments International economic relations Foreign financial assistance Balance of payments International trade regulation Funds management International organizations Economic analysis Eligibility determinations Argentina Brazil Indonesia Korea Russia Uganda International Monetary Fund Letter Report GGD NSIAD Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the International Monetary Fund (IMF), focusing on how the IMF: (1) establishes financial arrangements with borrower countries and the types of conditions set under these arrangements and assess how this process was used for six borrower countries; and (2) monitors countries' performance and assess how this process was used for the same six borrower countries, detailing the conditions met and not met, the reasons why conditions were not met, and the actions the IMF took in response.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) under IMF's Articles of Agreement, as amended, the IMF limits financial assistance to those countries with a balance-of-payments need; (2) continued disbursement of assistance to a country is based on the IMF's consideration of data on and judgment of the country's progress in meeting the agreed-upon conditions; (3) the IMF has developed a broad framework for establishing a financial assistance arrangement that is to be applied on a case-by-case basis considering each country's circumstances; (4) the specific conditions that the IMF and the country authorities establish are intended to address the immediate and underlying problems that contributed to the country's balance-of-payments difficulty, while ensuring repayment to the IMF; (5) after a country fulfills any early IMF requirements and the IMF Executive Board then approves the financial arrangement, the program is to take effect and the country is eligible to receive its first disbursement of funds; (6) according to information GAO reviewed for the six countries in its study, the IMF generally followed this process to establish the financial assistance package and the conditions for the assistance; (7) the underlying causes and magnitude of the balance-of-payments difficulty varied among the countries but generally stemmed from concerns about their continued access to external financing; (8) the IMF's process for monitoring a country's progress toward overall program goals and compliance with program conditions is designed to respond to an individual country's progress and situation; (9) according to IMF staff, many disbursements are conditioned only on the determination by IMF staff that the country has met prenegotiated quantitative criteria; other disbursements are subject to reviews by the IMF Executive Board; (10) the process for conducting IMF Board reviews, which involves the borrower country and the IMF, is designed to incorporate data on a country's economic performance as well as the judgment of the IMF Executive Board and staff; (11) according to the information GAO reviewed, the monitoring of the IMF's conditionality program in the six countries in GAO's study was generally consistent with this approach; (12) IMF missions to each country reviewed the country's economy and documented the country's progress in satisfying conditions; and (13) in some cases, the IMF determined that country progress in meeting the conditions had not been sufficient, and its response varied depending on the specifics of the condition and the judgment of the IMF staff and Executive Board on the country's overall progress. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-NSIAD-99-168/html/GAOREPORTS-GGD-NSIAD-99-168.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-NSIAD-99-168/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GGD-NSIAD-99-168.pdf GAO/GGD/NSIAD-99-168 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-NSIAD-99-168 Letter Report GAO/GGD/NSIAD-99-168; International Monetary Fund: Approach Used to Establish; Foreign governments International economic relations Foreign financial assistance Balance of payments International trade regulation Funds management International organizations Economic analysis Eligibility determinations Argentina Brazil Indonesia Korea Russia Uganda International Monetary Fund Public Law 105-277