Member's Documents
IMF Engagement with Small Developing States
Published by: Independent Evaluation Office of the International Monetary Fund
The IMF’s engagement with its 34 Small Developing States (SDS) members is particularly challenging. These countries represent 18 percent of the Fund’s membership and face distinctive economic vulnerabilities, not least related to natural disasters and climate change, while having very limited institutional capacity. The Fund can play a crucial role as a unique source of authoritative advice on macroeconomic management and valuable external financing, but doing so effectively requires recognizing these countries’ special needs.
The evaluation finds that the IMF deserves considerable credit for having substantially stepped up its engagement with SDS members over the last decade. This improvement reflects several factors, including the considerable efforts made to develop specific staff guidance for Fund work on SDS, the increased attention paid to climate change and other macro-critical issues for these members, and the rise of capacity development work, underpinned by the strong role played by regional centers.
