BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 25
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
The initial set of priorities and TA projects for the FY2022 workplan of the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia Regional Capacity Development Center (CCAMTAC) have been identified based on member countries’ demands and the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) internal prioritization process, the IMF official told Trend.
The official noted that the capacity development (CD) priorities focus on closing institutional, policy implementation and data gaps to help achieve a stronger, and more equitable recovery while mitigating deep-rooted vulnerabilities compounded by COVID-19 and, for oil exporters, the volatility in oil prices.
CD support should help countries recover from the pandemic, limit long-run negative effects on potential output, strengthen institutions, and achieve a sustainable and inclusive post-COVID world.
The initial set of priorities and TA projects for the FY2022 workplan have been identified based on member countries’ demands and the IMF’s internal prioritization process. For CCAMTAC member countries, broad priorities per topic area are:
- Macroframeworks: In the area of macroframeworks, well-developed, flexible and easily adaptable macroeconomic frameworks have become even more important during the current COVID-19 pandemic. This has raised questions about the near-term policy stance, medium-term macroeconomic developments, and longer-term debt dynamics. Authorities requested assistance in setting up frameworks or making existing frameworks for forecasting and policy analysis or debt dynamics analyses operational and integrating analyses in the policy-making process.
- Fiscal Policy: In the area of fiscal policy, authorities requested assistance to increase revenue mobilization (including through risk management, medium-term revenue strategies), strengthen PFM (e.g., medium-term budget planning, increasing public investment management efficiency, manage fiscal risks (including SOEs)), reallocate spending toward productive areas, including social spending; and increase spending efficiency.
- Monetary and financial sector: In the monetary and financial sector, CD needs will focus on strengthening financial supervision (including transparent and accurate recording of NPLs and appropriate loan provisioning) and central bank operations.
- Statistics: Demand for CD on statistics focuses on preparing or improving quarterly national accounts, more reliable and updated price statistics, as well as preparing government finance statistics in line with the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 and adequate coverage of public sector debt statistics.
The Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia Regional Capacity Development Center (CCAMTAC) is a collaborative venture between the IMF, nine member countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), and development partners/donors (Asian Development Bank. China, Korea, Poland, Switzerland, others may join in the future), and the IMF.
The Center was opened virtually on February 1, 2021, ahead of its physical launch in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The Center serves a diverse and dynamic region of 80 million people and is a major step in deepening the Fund’s engagement to support stronger policy frameworks and institutions in the region, to find new and inclusive growth drivers, and to boost the region’s economic potential. The Center joined a global network of sixteen existing IMF regional capacity development centers (RCDCs).
Following the virtual inaugural steering committee meeting on January 28, 2021 the Steering Committee met virtually for the second time on June 29, 2021 to review (i) the Center’s activities since its virtual opening; (ii) to discuss CCAMTAC’s strategy, and (iii) to discuss the work program for fiscal year (FY) 2022.
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