by ATISH REX GHOSH, ANDREW STANLEY
– Over the past 30 years the IMF has adapted to global shocks and evolving member needs
The IMF has always adapted to the evolving needs of its member countries, responding to challenges like volatile commodity prices in the 1960s, oil price shocks in the 1970s, the debt crisis of the 1980s, and the transition from centrally planned to market economies in the 1990s.
In the past 30 years, however, the pace of change has accelerated. In response to financial crises, the IMF not only stepped up lending (see charts below) but also enhanced its crisis prevention and resolution tool kits. Shifts in global economic conditions and new ways of thinking have also driven numerous reforms.
For example, after a decade of sluggish growth in low-income countries in the mid-1990s, the IMF refocused its approach to prioritize growth and poverty reduction. Global imbalances emerged in the mid-2000s, and the IMF revised its surveillance framework and developed new tools to better assess exchange rates and reserve adequacy.
More recently, the IMF has helped its members address governance, gender equity, digitalization, and climate change adaptation and mitigation where these issues are macro-critical, alongside providing advice on macroeconomic, financial, and exchange rate policies.
As the global landscape continues to evolve, the Fund remains committed to its mission, constantly innovating within its mandate to promote both domestic and external economic and financial stability. With this commitment, the IMF is well prepared to meet the complex challenges of today and the unforeseen events of tomorrow.
Spurred by shocks and crises, IMF surveillance, lending, and capacity building have evolved rapidly over the past 30 years.
1. 1995-2005: Low-Income-Country Lending Reforms
In response to poor macroeconomic performance and declining per capita incomes during the debt crisis, the IMF reformed its lending tool kit in the mid-1990s to focus on growth and poverty reduction for low-income countries. It also extended full debt relief on outstanding obligations.
2. 1995-2002: Emerging Market Financial Crises
The emerging market financial crises prompted the IMF to enhance its exchange rate and financial sector surveillance, develop early-warning models, focus on debt sustainability and sectoral balance sheet analysis, and improve data provision and dissemination. The IMF streamlined its conditionality and created contingent financing instruments for countries with strong policies but suffering contagion from crises in neighboring countries or global shocks.
3. 2008-2014: Global Financial Crisis
During the Global Financial Crisis, the IMF increased its lending, streamlined conditionality, enhanced its tool kit, and issued $284 billion worth of special drawing rights (SDRs). It improved its crisis prevention tools and surveillance framework to better capture cross-border spillovers and help countries manage volatile capital flows.
4. 2020-2022: COVID-19 Pandemic
During the pandemic, the IMF swiftly provided unprecedented emergency financing and suspended debt-service payments for its poorest members. It also issued $650 billion worth of SDRs, with the RST allowing wealthier members to channel SDRs to countries in greater need.
IMF financing to low-income countries
ATISH REX GHOSH is historian at the IMF.
ANDREW STANLEY is on the staff of Finance & Development.
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Seychelles
First Female Prison Commissioner takes office
The first-ever Seychellois female Commissioner of Prison in Seychelles, Janet Georges, who took office on Tuesday, said she is ready to help society by reintegrating inmates after they have served their time in prison.
Georges met with President Wavel Ramkalawan who appointed her to replace Raymond St Ange, who occupied the position, as of July 23.
The Seychelles Prison Services include the main prison facility at Montagne Posee and the Bois De Rose Detention Remand Facility, both located on the main island of Mahe.
Georges told reporters that her appointment is an honour and « she is not just looking at the position and the fact that I am the first woman to get it, but I am looking at it as I can work for my country, as the prisons services require much work. »
Ramkalawan said, « With the level of discipline she has exhibited in sports and on the force, I am sure that she will be a capable Commissioner of Prisons. »
George is a well-known athlete in weightlifting in Seychelles and on the international scene. She won a bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, and four years later she grabbed a silver in Delhi, India. She has won the Seychelles’ Sportswoman of the Year several times.
Before assuming the position, Georges was a police officer working with the Prisons Services management team and officers for five months.
« We already have a strategic plan that we are working on so we know that our vision and mission tell us to work mainly in rehabilitation, » she revealed.
For the rehabilitation programme, she explained that « as long as there are people who want to come forward and help inmates, this strategy will work since our door is always open. »
This will also include the strategy of restorative justice – where the victims meet the offenders.
« Sometimes people act in anger and end up in prison, or there are times that they are in prison they feel like asking forgiveness from the person they have wronged, » she explained.
The Prisons Services personnel will attend training sessions to get properly acquainted with the new strategy.
Other facilities soon to be commissioned are high security prisons at Bonne Espoir on Mahe and another on the island of Marie Louise.
The Seychelles government is funding the facility at Bon Espoir at SCR 8.7 million ($645,000) for the first phase which will include an administration block, a clinic, and the first block of 40 cells, which are expected to be completed in December of this year.
« Then we will be able to build workshops and create places with enough space to allow the inmates to rehabilitate themselves, » said Georges.
Georges joined the police force in 1998 and left the force for her latest appointment after reaching the Assistant Superintendent of Police level.