Study about IMF Governance: IMF Surveillance
Executive Summary: Surveillance over the international monetary and financial system is a fundamental responsibility of the IMF. The principles and practices of IMF governance play a key role in determining surveillance policy, enabling its adaptation to a changing world economy and, ultimately, affecting the quality of surveillance. In turn, these principles and practices result from the institutional and political dynamics that underpin the governance mechanisms of global finance. A good understanding of IMF governance thus requires a consideration of the governance of global finance.
This case study analyzes the above relationships from the mid-1990s to the present—a period characterized by growing concern in the international community about the challenges raised by globalization. The study assesses the extent to which the interplay of the IMF’s governing bodies, influenced by global governance, has facilitated the adaptation, implementation, and effectiveness of Fund surveillance policy. Its purpose is to draw judgments about the effectiveness of the Fund’s governance. In particular, it addresses three issues: (i) how IMF governance has affected the adaptation of Fund surveillance, (ii) the role that the IMF’s governing bodies have played in the conduct of surveillance, and (iii) the ways in which IMF governance can be improved to make surveillance more effective. Keep reading…
