IMF technical assistance supports the development of the productive
resources of member countries by helping them to effectively manage
their economic policy and financial affairs. The IMF helps countries to
strengthen their capacity in both human and institutional resources, and
to design appropriate macroeconomic, financial, and structural policies.
Technical assistance benefits low-income countries
Technical assistance is one of the benefits of IMF membership. About 85
percent percent of IMF technical assistance goes to low and lower-middle
income countries. Post-conflict countries are also major beneficiaries.
Apart from the immediate benefit to recipient countries, by helping
individual countries reduce weaknesses and vulnerabilities, technical
assistance also contributes to a more robust and stable global economy.
Further, technical assistance provided to emerging and industrialized
economies in select cutting-edge areas helps provide traction to IMF policy
advice, and keeps the institution up-to-date on innovations and risks to the
international economy.
Integration of technical assistance with IMF surveillance and lending
Technical assistance contributes to the effectiveness of the IMF’s
surveillance and lending programs, and is an important complement to these
other core IMF functions. Specialized technical assistance from the IMF
helps build capacity in countries for effective policymaking, including in
support of surveillance or lending operations. Conversely, surveillance and
lending work results in policy and other experiences that further inform and
strengthen the IMF’s technical assistance program according to international
best practices. In view of these linkages, achieving greater integration
between technical assistance, surveillance, and lending operations is a key
priority for the IMF.
Technical assistance covers core areas of IMF expertise
The IMF provides technical assistance in its
areas of core expertise: macroeconomic policy, tax policy and revenue
administration, expenditure management, monetary policy, the exchange rate
system, financial sector sustainability, and macroeconomic and financial
statistics. In particular, efforts in recent years to strengthen the
international financial system have triggered additional demands for IMF
technical assistance. For example, countries have asked for help to address
financial sector weaknesses identified within the framework of the joint
IMF-World Bank
Financial Sector Assessment Program; adopt and adhere to international
standards and codes for financial, fiscal, and statistical management;
implement recommendations from
off-shore financial centers assessments; and strengthen measures to
combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
At the same time, there is a continuing demand for technical assistance
to help low-income countries build capacity to design and implement
poverty-reducing and growth programs, and to help
heavily indebted poor countries undertake debt sustainability analyses
and manage debt-reduction programs. The IMF also contributes actively to the
Integrated Framework for trade-related technical assistance, which aims
to assist low-income countries expand their participation in the global
economy.
The recipient country is fully involved in the entire process of
technical assistance, from identification of need, to implementation,
monitoring, and evaluation.
Technical assistance delivery takes a regional approach
The IMF delivers technical assistance in various ways. Depending on the
nature of the assignment, support is often provided through staff missions
of limited duration sent from headquarters, or the placement of experts and/or
resident advisors for periods ranging from a few weeks to a few years.
Assistance might also be provided in the form of technical and diagnostic
studies, training courses, seminars, workshops, and “on-line” advice and
support.
The IMF has increasingly adopted a regional approach to the delivery of
technical assistance and training. It operates seven
regional technical assistance centers—in the Pacific; the Caribbean;
East, West and Central Africa; the Middle East; and in Central America. The
latter was opened in May 2009, and the IMF is planning to open three
additional regional centers—in Central Asia, and two further centers in
Africa. In addition to training offered at the
IMF Institute in Washington D.C., the IMF also offers courses, workshops,
and seminars for country officials through a network of sevenregional
training institutes and programs, and in the context of the regional
technical assistance centers.
The regional centers will be complemented by technical assistance
financed through topical trust funds. The first such fund started operations
in May 2009, concentrating on building capacity in connection with
anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. Further
trust funds are planned, including on tax administration and policy,
managing natural resource wealth, fiscal management, sustainable debt
strategies, financial stability statistics, and training in Africa.
Donors play a large role in financing technical assistance
Technical assistance accounts for about one-fifth of the IMF’s operating
budget. It is financed by both internal and external resources, the latter
comprising funds from bilateral and multilateral donors. Such cooperation
and resource sharing with external donors has a few benefits: it leverages
the internal resources available for technical assistance, helps avoid
duplication of advice by different donors, and strengthens collaboration
with donors and other technical assistance providers.
Bilateral donors to the IMF’s technical assistance and training program
include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Kuwait,
Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Qatar,
Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and
some beneficiary countries. Multilateral donors include the African
Development Bank, the Arab Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank, the
Caribbean Development Bank, the Central American Bank for Economic
Integration, the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, the
Inter-American Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP). In FY 2009, external financing
accounted for more than two-thirds of IMF technical assistance field
delivery.