World Bank and IMF to Produce Assessment of their Collaborative Efforts
5 April 2006
IMF head Rodrigo de Rato and World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz have announced their intent to evaluate World Bank-IMF collaboration in an upcoming review.
On March 29, 2006 the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Rodrigo de Rato and World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz initiated plans to review and hopefully enhance World Bank-IMF joint programs. Originally expected to be undertaken in 2007, the joint staff review will measure "how the Fund and Bank work together to enhance global economic performance and development."
This assessment will be run by Michael Callaghan, Executive Director of the Australian Treasury’s Revenue group and a former IMF Executive Director; Caio Koch-Weser, Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank, Germany’s former Finance Secretary and a former World Bank Managing Director; Pedro Malan, Chairman of Unibanco and a former Minister of Finance of Brazil; William McDonough, Vice Chairman of Merrill Lynch and a former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Indonesia’s Minister of Finance and a former IMF Executive Director; and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and a former Vice President and corporate Secretary of the World Bank Group. In addition, advisors to the committee will include Mark Allen, Director of the IMF’s Policy Development and Review Department and Danny Leipziger, Vice President of the World Bank’s Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network.
The review will likely canvass a wide range of individuals from various backgrounds and regions in hopes of producing a comprehensive analysis of Bank-Fund activities. One feature of this review will be an examination of whether or not the "established areas of responsibility are consistent with the two institutions' mandates." Another component of the review will explore what improvements can be made to policy advice, lending operations, and technical assistance. Several joint initiatives such as, debt sustainability analysis in low-income countries, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), the implementation of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative, will also be reviewed for areas of possible improvements.