Japan Administered Account for Selected IMF Activities (JSA)--Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2006


Book Description

This chapter focuses on IMF’s technical assistance (TA) activities and describes Japan Administered Account for Selected Fund Activities (JSA) including its objectives, size, scope, and use, as well as assessments of its activities, with focus on fiscal year. Activities to be funded from the JSA, as well as all other IMF TA activities, are planned each year. Reflecting greater global financial stability and fewer conflict situations over the past two years, FY2006 saw a reduction in JSA allocations for crisis prevention and the rehabilitation of economic and financial institutions in post-conflict countries, and an increase in JSA allocations for sustainable debt management and poverty reduction efforts. The distribution of the commitment of JSA funds among the subject areas has broadly reflected the foregoing distribution in the overall use of IMF resources for technical assistance. Japan also provides financial support for a scholarship program for qualified Asian nationals who want to study economics at the doctoral level at one of the leading universities in North America to pursue a career at the IMF or in their home country governments. The program covers tuition and reasonable costs for two years of study; scholars are expected to cover the remaining years of study, typically through additional funding from their universities.




Japan Administered Account for Selected IMF Activities (JSA)--Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2008


Book Description

This paper reports a brief description of the IMF and its activities, focusing in particular on its technical assistance (TA) activities. The report then describes in greater detail the Japan Administered Account for Selected Fund Activities (JSA)—including its objectives, size, scope, and use, as well as assessments of its activities, with a focus on fiscal year (FY) 2008—and the TA activities and scholarship programs that it finances. The IMF finances technical assistance for its member countries, devoting some 25 percent of its annual operating budget to TA work and training. Although most technical assistance is financed through internal resources, external financing from bilateral and multilateral partners has been increasing over the past few years and constitutes an important pillar. The responsibilities of the Regional Office in Tokyo include collaborative efforts between the IMF and Japan that strengthen economic prospects in the Asia-Pacific region, and also include support of various regional policy forums, such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the Pacific Islands Forum.




Japan Administered Account for Selected IMF Activities (JSA)--Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2009


Book Description

This paper provides a brief description of the IMF and its activities, focusing in particular on its technical assistance (TA) activities. The report then describes in greater detail the Japan Administered Account for Selected Fund Activities (JSA)—including its scope and objectives, the size and uses of the TA contribution, and assessments of its TA activities and scholarship programs—with a focus on fiscal year (FY) 2009. Japan has provided grant contributions to support IMF technical assistance to member countries since 1990. In 1997, the scope of the administered account was widened to allow for financing other IMF activities in Asia and the Pacific, carried out through the IMF Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Tokyo. Regular consultations are held between the IMF and the Japanese authorities; the most recent formal meeting took place in April 2009. The use of JSA resources is flexible. JSA funds can be used to cover the cost of short- and long-term TA experts and other costs associated with conducting seminars and workshops, such as room rental fees.




Japan Administered Account for Selected IMF Activities (JSA)--Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2004


Book Description

This paper reports a brief description of the IMF and its activities, focusing in particular on its technical assistance activities. The report describes in detail the Japan Administered Account for Selected Fund Activities (JSA)—its objectives, size, scope and use, as well as assessments of its activities, with a focus on fiscal year 2004—and the scholarship programs that it finances. The IMF finances its technical assistance for its member countries mainly from its own budgetary resources; it also receives external financing from bilateral and multilateral partners. JSA resources can be used to cover the costs of short- and long-term technical assistance experts and those providing seminars and workshops. In addition, JSA projects in two or three countries are visited and reviewed each year by a joint Japan-IMF mission. These visits provide the Japanese authorities with a firsthand view of how JSA funding is being used in the field.










Customs Administration Reform and Modernization in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa, 1995–2010


Book Description

This paper outlines reforms that have been achieved in the modernization of the customs administrations of francophone sub-Saharan (African) countries since the mid-1990s. It also highlights the remaining issues in this process. Progress has been made in the automation of operations and procedures, with constant and significant efforts to strengthen revenue collection and improve trade facilitation in a number of countries. However, the pace and scope of modernization remains insufficient, particularly in developing customs control and enforcement capacities, and enhancing operational resources and management. The findings suggest that the authorities’ strong commitment to reform, organizational and management changes, adequate technical assistance and project management, and effective implementation of modern customs standards, are critical to accelerate the modernization of customs in francophone sub-Saharan Africa.




Shock Waves


Book Description

Ending poverty and stabilizing climate change will be two unprecedented global achievements and two major steps toward sustainable development. But the two objectives cannot be considered in isolation: they need to be jointly tackled through an integrated strategy. This report brings together those two objectives and explores how they can more easily be achieved if considered together. It examines the potential impact of climate change and climate policies on poverty reduction. It also provides guidance on how to create a “win-win†? situation so that climate change policies contribute to poverty reduction and poverty-reduction policies contribute to climate change mitigation and resilience building. The key finding of the report is that climate change represents a significant obstacle to the sustained eradication of poverty, but future impacts on poverty are determined by policy choices: rapid, inclusive, and climate-informed development can prevent most short-term impacts whereas immediate pro-poor, emissions-reduction policies can drastically limit long-term ones.




Budget Support as More Effective Aid?


Book Description

"Budget support has become an increasingly important instrument in the context of a partnership-based approach to development assistance. Compared to traditional modes of aid delivery, it promises greater country ownership, reduced transaction costs, better donor coordination, scaling up of poverty reduction and potentially greater development effectiveness. This book presents a timely and valuable review of key concepts, issues, experiences and emerging lessons relevant to budget support. It provides an overview of principal characteristics, expectations and concerns related to budget support, key design and implementation issues, as well as some practical experiences. The contributors include government representatives from developing countries, leading academic scholars, bilateral development agencies and development practitioners from international financial institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. They present a wide range of views on key issues such as the choice of instruments, alignment of budget support with country programs, predictability, and coordination and conditionality. The authors draw their insightful analysis on the contemporary research and evaluation work, as well as the broad practical experience with budget support. This book will be of great interest to practitioners in aid-recipient countries and international financial institutions, bilateral agencies and civil organizations involved in budget support."




The Revised EBA-Lite Methodology


Book Description

The Methodology review identified three broad areas for improving the EBA-Lite methodology: (1) expanding the fundamentals and policy determinants in the CA and REER regressions to better capture the external balance of EBA-Lite countries; (2) identifying alternatives to regression models for external assessments of large exporters of exhaustible commodities; and (3) a revised approach for the assessment of external sustainability in highly indebted economies. Accordingly, the revised methodology consists of three modules: 1) Regression Module 2) Module for External Assessments of Exporters of Exhaustible Commodities 3) Module for the Assessment of External Sustainability