Poverty Reduction And Growth Trust Research Articles

2023 Review of Resource Adequacy of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, Resilience and Sustainability Trust, and Debt Relief Trusts

This paper provides an integrated perspective across the Trusts of the Fund. It is the first annual review that combines discussion of the adequacy of the resources of the Fund’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) and debt relief trusts, including the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT), with that of the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST). The review of the PRGT assesses recent developments for lending demand, fundraising, and interest rates and compares them to the baseline projections underpinning the July 2021 reforms. A multi-pronged strategy is proposed to address identified strains on PRGT finances while minimizing negative effects for PRGT borrowers and preserving the confidence of PRGT lenders. On the recently established RST, this paper reports its fundraising progress; discusses demand developments and outlook for RST financing; assesses adequacy of loan resources and reserves; and examines, in view of increases in the SDR interest rate, the implications of adopting an interest rate cap at 2¼ percent for the lowest income group eligible for RST borrowing.

Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust―2022

This paper presents the first set of borrowing agreements that have been finalized as part of the loan mobilization round launched in July 2021 to cover the cost of pandemic-related lending and support the self-sustainability of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT). All agreements presented use SDRs in the context of SDR channeling and together provide a total of SDR 2.85 billion in new PRGT loan resources for low-income countries (LICs).

Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust―2020-21 Borrowing Agreements with The Government of Canada as Represented by The Minister of Finance, and The People’s Bank of China

This paper presents two new borrowing agreements for the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT). These two agreements with the IMF, acting as Trustee for the PRGT, and the Government of Canada and the People’s Bank of China respectively have been finalized as part of the resource mobilization effort in response to the unprecedented demand for concessional financing driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic shocks. The fast-track loan mobilization round launched in April 2020 allowed the Fund to increase access limits and scale up emergency financing to low-income countries (LICs). To date, eleven new agreements and the augmentation of five existing agreements have been finalized with sixteen lenders (for previous updates see the October 2020 paper and the March 2021 paper. Together, these agreements and augmentations provide a total of SDR 16.9 billion in new PRGT loan resources for LICs, of which SDR 15.1 billion is immediately available.

Poverty Reduction And Growth Trust - 2020 Borrowing Agreements With The National Bank Of Belgium, Banco Central Do Brasil, Banque De France, The Government Of Japan, De Nederlandsche Bank NV, The Norwegian Ministry Of Finance Representing The Kingdom Of Norway, The Bank Of Spain, The Sveriges Riksbank And The Government Of The United Kingdom

This paper presents the first set of Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) borrowing agreements that have been signed to respond to the unprecedented demand for concessional financing during the COVID-19 pandemic. A fast-track loan mobilization round has been instrumental to allow the Fund to raise access limits and scale up emergency financing to low-income countries (LICs). The new agreements and augmentations of existing agreements that have been finalized are from Belgium, Brazil, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Together, these agreements provide a total of SDR 10.6 billion in new PRGT loan resources for LICs.

Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust-Review of Interest Rate Structure

This paper reviews the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) interest rate structure for the period July 2019–June 2021. Since the interest rate mechanism was first established in 2009, no interest has been charged on PRGT credit. In line with the package of reforms proposed in the parallel Review of LIC Facilities, this paper proposes to align interest rates on the SCF with those on the ECF. Based on the average SDR rate over the most recently observed 12-month period, the proposed revised interest rate mechanism would result in zero interest rates on both ECF and SCF credit for the period July 2019–June 2021.

Update on the Financing of the Fund's Concessional Assistance and Debt Relief to Low-Income Countries

The Fund is adapting its framework for providing support to low-income countries (LICs) amid rising vulnerabilities. Despite a global economic upswing, many LICs continue to face difficult fiscal and external positions, aggravated by increasing debt levels and natural disasters in many countries. In this context, the Executive Board approved in May 2017 higher annual access limits under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) for balance of payment needs arising from large natural disasters and in May 2017 decided to keep the list of Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT)-eligible countries unchanged notwithstanding rising per capita income levels. A comprehensive review of PRGT facilities is underway to consider potential adaptations of program modalities and access policies. PRGT demand in 2017 was above the historical average for the third year in a row. New commitments totaled SDR 1.7 billion, the highest level since the global financial crisis. Demand is expected to moderate somewhat in 2018. Longer-term demand estimates are broadly unchanged from last year’s update, and remain generally consistent with the self-sustaining PRGT financing framework adopted in 2012. Loan resources have been successfully replenished, while subsidy contributions remain somewhat below pledged amounts. The 2015 fundraising round mobilized slightly more than the initial target of SDR 11 billion in new loan resources from 15 PRGT lenders, which should provide adequate loan resources into the next decade. By contrast, progress has been limited in collecting the remaining pledged resources for subsidizing the interest on PRGT credit. The PRGT self-sustained capacity remains intact. The PRGT’s self-sustained long term average annual lending capacity is estimated at SDR 1.31 billion, broadly unchanged from last year’ estimate. While capacity estimates are sensitive to a variety of factors, they remain relatively close to the target of SDR 1¼ billion under a number of shocks. The Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCR Trust) remains underfunded. Funding is below the original targeted amount of new bilateral contributions totaling US$150 million, and the gap is more sizeable when considering the increase of members’ quotas under the 14th General Review of Quotas. To meet funding needs for future qualifying catastrophe relief, it is important that countries with outstanding pledges fulfill their commitments and for additional countries to come forward. Additional financing would be required to provide debt relief to members with protracted arrears. Debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Counties (HIPC) Initiative is winding up, with only two potentially eligible countries left with outstanding Fund credit. These are the protracted arrears cases of Somalia and Sudan. Additional resources would be required to finance the Fund’s participation in debt relief when these countries are ready to undertake the HIPC Initiative process

Modifying the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) Cumulative Borrowing Limit

Modifying the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) Cumulative Borrowing Limit

Social Safeguards and Program Design in PRGT and PSI-Supported Programs

The Fund provides considerable support to low-income countries (LICs). This includes concessional financing from the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), which currently carries an interest rate of zero percent. Since 2010, over half of Fund-supported arrangements have involved a PRGT facility. Support for poverty reduction is a core objective of arrangements supported by these facilities. This paper examines how PRGT-supported programs safeguard spending on poor and vulnerable groups within the broader framework of promoting inclusive growth. In some cases, national poverty reduction programs seek to shift expenditures toward social programs in the context of generally higher spending supported by domestic revenue mobilization, grants, or debt financing. In other cases, the goal is to safeguard poor and vulnerable groups from fiscal adjustment and reform measures that could adversely affect them by adopting countervailing policy measures to strengthen social safety nets. In discussing social safeguards, this paper focuses on how and if these objectives are reflected satisfactorily in the design of PRGT and PSI-supported programs. The effectiveness of social spending in improving social outcomes, including by durably reducing poverty, is beyond the scope of the paper.

He who pays the piper calls the tune? The IMF's policies in Zimbabwe

18 | International Union Rights | 24/1 FOCUS | WORLD BANK AND IMF He who pays the piper calls the tune? The IMF’s policies in Zimbabwe Economic and political crises have saddled Zimbabwe with a massive debt burden. As of 31 October 2016, the country’s public debt stood at US$11.2 billion (79 percent of GDP) of which US$7.5 billion (53 percent of GDP) is external debt. Of the US$7.5 billion external debt, US$5.2 billion is in arrears (Gov. of Zimbabwe, 2017 Budget Statement). The continued accumulation of external payment arrears since 1999 has undermined the country’s creditworthiness, resulting in the deterioration of relations with major creditors and compromising the country’s ability to secure new sources of financing. In March 2012, the country adopted the Zimbabwe: Accelerated Arrears Clearance, Debt and Development Strategy (ZAADDS). In June 2013, Zimbabwe signed a letter of Intent towards the International Monetary Fund’s Staff Monitored Programme (SMP, a critical step towards re-engagement with the Paris club creditors. Then in October 2015, Zimbabwe agreed with creditors in Lima to accelerate re-engagements with the international community. On 20 October 2016, Zimbabwe settled its overdue obligations to the IMF amounting to US$107.9 million. The IMF Board removed sanctions on Zimbabwe that relate to remedial measures applied on account of overdue financial obligations to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT). The remedial measures removed related to: declaration of non-cooperation with the IMF, suspension of technical assistance; and removal of Zimbabwe on the list of PRGT-eligible countries. Now the country is under a so-called Staff Monitored Programme in which the IMF provides technical assistance and monitors implementation progress. The process of re-engagement with the IMF makes a consideration of Zimbabwe’s past experiences very timely. The future is far from certain. The IMF projects that real GDP for Zimbabwe will shrink to 2 .5 percent in 2017. The IMF projects that Zimbabwe will only experience a modest recovery of 1.6 percent in 2021. Inequality and Labour at Independence Zimbabwe joined the IMF at independence in 1980 and was caught in between two different economic ideologies of socialism and capitalism. Because of the historical imbalance in the political and economic sphere, the white minority (about 2 percent of the population) controlled almost 70 percent of arable lands. While the government adopted socialist concepts to address the inequalities, there was pressure on the government to adopt capitalist principles. The then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe remarked as follows: ‘my government, committed as it is to socialism… recognises the existing phenomenon of capitalism as an historical reality, which because it cannot be avoided has to be purposefully harnessed, regulated and transformed as a partner’. The labour market was also in favour of the white minority. As of 1982, the black population (96.7 percent) had a share of wages in employment at 60 percent, while the white population (2 percent) had a share of wages of 37 percent. The remaining 0.5 percent was shared between the coloured and Asian population, but more in favour of the coloureds. In an attempt to close the wage gap, the government commissioned the ‘Riddell Commission, 1981’ to look into issues of income inequality. The Commission Report highlighted ‘the necessity for action and for the introduction of policies directed specifically at alleviating poverty and narrowing differentials…’ According to the Commission, there was a need for a policy shift towards ‘growth with equity through planned change’, as opposed to the prevailing situation of ‘growth with widening inequalities’. On the minimum wages issue, the Commission also recommended that the basis for determining minimum wages should be solely on the needs of the workers and their families and not on the place of work or the type of the work performed. Whether a domestic or a factory worker, the criterion of need should determine minimum wages, hence the concept of the Poverty Datum Line (PDL) should be the determinant of the minimum wage. The government intervened in the labour market by stipulating minimum wages to reduce the widening wage inequality and also to reduce poverty levels. The minimum wages for domestic...

Financing for Development

PRGT-eligible members make considerable use of Fund concessional financing. Since 2010, 56 percent of Fund arrangements have involved a PRGT-facility. This paper examines a number of issues raised by Executive Directors and the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) since the issuance to the Board of the June 2015 staff paper on enhancing the financial safety net for developing countries (IMF, 2015a). This paper concludes that there is a need to clarify guidance in some areas pertaining to PRGT policies. This will be done through an early revision of the LIC Handbook, which is already underway. The paper does not propose changes to the Fund’s concessional facilities at this juncture. A comprehensive review of PRGT (Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust) resources and facilities is planned for 2018.

Update on the Mobilization of Loan Resources for PRGT Lending, Proposed Amendment to the PRGT Instrument, and Floor for the Six-Month Derived SDR Interest Rate

A Board-endorsed effort to raise SDR 11 billion in new Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) loan resources needed to sustain the Fund’s concessional lending operations is well underway. Staff is now engaging with 16 interested loan providers bilaterally with a view to having firm pledges in line with the target by the 2016 Annual Meetings and a critical mass of new loan agreements in place by end-2016. To date, committed new loan resources amount to half of the SDR 11 billion fundraising target.

Update on the Financing of the Fund's Concessional Assistance and Debt Relief to Low-Income Member Countries

Better targeted support to LICs. In July 2015, the Executive Board approved measures to strengthen the financial safety net for low-income countries. Specifically, access norms and limits to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) resources were increased by 50 percent and the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) interest rate was set permanently at zero. In addition, four countries graduated from PRGT eligibility. Together with a rebalancing of the mix of blended financing towards more use of general Fund resources for better-off PRGT-eligible countries, these reforms were broadly resource neutral and left the PRGT self-sustaining framework intact. Demand for PRGT resources up strongly. In 2015, demand reached SDR 1.5 billion, largely in response to shocks to commodity prices and adverse global financial market conditions. Demand is expected to remain elevated in 2016, as the global environment continues to be challenging.

Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe: Settlement of Overdue Financial Obligations to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust,Lifting of Declaration of Noncooperation, Lifting of Restriction on Fund Technical Assistance, and Restoration of Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust Eligibility-Press Release; and Staff Report

This paper discusses Zimbabwe’s Settlement of Overdue Financial Obligations to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), Lifting of Declaration of Noncooperation, Lifting of Restriction on IMF technical assistance, and restoration of PRGT eligibility. In light of Zimbabwe’s settlement of its overdue financial obligations to the PRGT, the IMF staff proposes that the Board remove the remaining remedial measures. Zimbabwe is eligible to return to the PRGT-eligibility list. The IMF staff also proposes that the Board lift the declaration of noncooperation, remove the remaining restriction on the provision of IMF technical assistance, and reinstate Zimbabwe as a PRGT-eligible country.

Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust - Review of Interest Rate Structure

This paper provides the basis for the second review of the interest rate structure approved under the 2009 reforms of the Fund’s concessional lending facilities. Based on the application of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) interest rate mechanism, PRGT interest rates for 2015–16 would be zero percent for both the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Rapid Credit Facility (RCF), and 0.25 percent for the Stand-by Credit Facility (SCF). The interest rate on remaining balances of the Exogenous Shock Facility (ESF) is not set by the PRGT interest mechanism and it would be 0.25 percent. In accordance with the PRGT Instrument, the next review of PRGT interest rates will take place by December 31, 2016.

Update on the Financing of the Fund's Concessional Assistance and Debt Relief to Low-Income Member Countries

New commitments under programs supported by the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) amounted to SDR 0.6 billion during the first nine months of 2014, and disbursements on existing arrangements amounted to about SDR 0.3 billion through end-August. While this level of demand is low by historical standards, new commitments for 2014 as a whole could still exceed SDR 1 billion. These projections are, however, subject to considerable uncertainty regarding progress with ongoing program negotiations.

Review of Facilities for Low-Income Countries - Proposals for Implementation

Based on the Executive Board’s guidance during the first stage of the Review of Low Income Countries (LIC) Facilities, this paper suggests a number of refinements to the facilities and instruments that are consistent with the self-sustainability of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT). The proposals seek to improve the tailoring and flexibility of Fund support. Taken together with those advanced in the parallel paper on PRGT eligibility, they are projected to keep the average annual demand for PRGT resources within a range consistent with the Board’s approved strategy to make the PRGT self-sustaining over the period 2013–35. The proposals are as follows.

Eligibility to Use the Fund's Facilities for Concessinal Financing

During the 2012 Review of Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) Eligibility, Executive Directors expressed a number of concerns about the eligibility framework. The Board decided to bring forward the next review of eligibility by one year, to early 2013, in light of these concerns. In particular, Directors called for the review to assess: Possible shortcomings of the gross national income (GNI) per capita criterion in the case of small states, and whether additional or alternative variables should be used to better capture members‘ circumstances, particularly those of small states; as well as further options to enhance the flexibility of the PRGT-eligibility framework to cover small and very small countries; The application of the short-term vulnerabilities criterion for graduation, which can lead to repeated non-graduation of members that meet either the income or the market access criteria for graduation.

Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust - Borrowing Agreement with the National Bank of Belgium

Effective November 12, 2012, the Fund, as Trustee of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), entered into a borrowing agreement (the “Agreement”) with the National Bank of Belgium, by which Belgium will provide new loan resources of up to SDR 350 million (see attachment). With this Agreement, the Fund has concluded fourteen new borrowing agreements providing total resources of SDR 9,811 million in the context of fundraising under the 2009 Low-Income Countries (LICs) financing package.

Eligibility to Use the Fund's Facilities for Concessional Financing

This paper proposes to maintain the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT)-eligibility criteria established in early 2010 and considers, based on the application of such criteria, whether updates to the eligibility list are warranted at this time. The premise remains that access to the Fund’s scarce concessional resources should be preserved for members with low income and related vulnerabilities, while keeping PRGT eligibility closely aligned with International Development Association (IDA) practices. Based on the application of the PRGT-eligibility framework, no countries are proposed for entry or graduation at this time.

Partial Distribution of the General Reserve Attributed to Windfall Gold Sale Profits--Proposed Decision

This paper proposes the distribution of a portion of the Fund’s general reserve that is attributed to profits from recent Fund gold sales. The proposed distribution is part of a strategy endorsed by the Board in July 2009 involving the use of resources linked to gold sale profits to facilitate members’ contributions towards Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) subsidies. The strategy was formulated in the context of a comprehensive reform of the Fund’s Low Income Country (LIC) facilities and concessional financing framework approved by the Executive Board that included a financing package aimed at ensuring the PRGT’s capacity to lend concessional resources of up to SDR 11.3 billion ($17 billion) during the period 2009–14. The financing package included an agreement to raise SDR 1.5 billion in subsidy resources, of which SDR 0.5–0.6 billion (in end-2008 NPV terms) was expected to be generated from resources linked to profits from gold sales.