2013年-IMF国际货币组织全球_Review_of_Facilities_for_Low_37页_750kb

Summary of the Review of Facilities for Low-Income Countries—Proposals for Implementation

Core Content

This document outlines a set of proposals to refine the facilities and instruments available to Low-Income Countries (LICs) under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), with the aim of improving the tailoring and flexibility of Fund support while ensuring the self-sustainability of the PRGT over the period 2013–35. The proposals are aligned with the Board's guidance from the first stage of the Review and the 2013 PRGT Eligibility Review.

Main Proposals

1. Enhancement of Blending Policy

• Objective: To better utilize PRGT and General Resources Account (GRA) resources, ensuring that the most vulnerable LICs receive concessional support.
• Current Policy: PRGT-eligible members with GNI above 80% of IDA cutoff and market access are presumed to blend. Access is split 50:50 between PRGT and GRA, with a floor of 25% and ceiling of 50% of quota.
• Proposed Changes:
  • First Approach: Relax market access criteria to two out of five years and a minimum cumulative access of 50% of quota. This would reduce PRGT resource use by about SDR 0.1 billion annually in the short term.
  • Second Approach: Further lower income and market access thresholds (to 60% of IDA cutoff for members with market access, and 80% for others). This could bring in about seven additional presumed blenders.
  • Staff Recommendation: The first approach is recommended due to its alignment with the original intent of blending policy to support gradual graduation from PRGT.

2. Access Policy Adjustments

• Objective: To ensure that access norms and limits are adjusted appropriately when the Fourteenth General Review of Quotas is implemented.
• Proposed Action: Halve access norms and limits in relation to quota upon the implementation of the quota increase, which is expected in 2013.
• Impact: This would keep access in SDR terms largely unchanged for most LICs, but reduce the need for future access increases, thus preserving PRGT resources for poorer members.

3. Enhancing Precautionary Support

• Proposals:
  • Stand-by Credit Facility (SCF): Easing time limitations on use and allowing greater frontloading of access would make the SCF more responsive to financial shocks.
  • Board Approval: Streamlining the approval process for augmentation requests between scheduled reviews would allow more timely support for members facing financial shocks.

4. Operational Streamlining of the LIC Toolkit

• Policy Support Instrument (PSI):
  • Clarifying qualification standards and changing modalities to increase its usefulness.
• Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS):
  • Permitting longer initial durations for ECF arrangements and greater flexibility in the timing of reviews.
• Termination of Defunct ECFs:
  • Requiring timely termination of non-viable ECF arrangements to free up PRGT resources for other users.

Key Implications

• Self-Sustainability: The proposals aim to ensure that the PRGT remains self-sustaining by reducing the average annual demand for PRGT resources.
• Resource Allocation: By expanding blending, the PRGT can better target its concessional resources to the most vulnerable members.
• Operational Flexibility: Enhancing the flexibility of the LIC toolkit will improve the Fund's ability to respond to financial shocks and support sustainable growth.
• Future Access Constraints: An upfront increase in access now would limit the scope for future increases, which could negatively impact poorer and more vulnerable members.

Financial Projections

• Baseline Demand: The updated baseline projections estimate the average annual demand for PRGT resources to be in the range of SDR 1.2–2.1 billion for 2013–35.
• Impact of Blending:
  • Moderate Expansion: Could reduce demand to SDR 1.1–1.7 billion for 2013–35 and SDR 1.0–1.5 billion for 2013–23.
  • Aggressive Expansion: Could bring demand down to SDR 1.0–1.6 billion for 2013–35 and SDR 0.9–1.4 billion for 2013–23.
• Nominal Access Increases:
  • A 15% increase in access now would not return to baseline until 2020, delaying further increases until 2022.
  • A 38% increase would delay further increases until 2026.
  • Full pass-through of the quota increase without future increases would still exceed baseline levels by 2035.

Conclusion

The proposals aim to improve the efficiency and flexibility of the PRGT and its associated facilities while maintaining the long-term goal of self-sustainability. They include refinements to blending policies, access norms, and operational procedures, and emphasize the importance of balancing current and future resource needs to ensure equitable support for LICs.