Office of International Affairs

International Monetary Policy (IMF)

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The Office of International Monetary Policy (IMF) provides policy analysis and recommendations to senior Treasury policymakers with respect to U.S. participation in the International Monetary Fund, and supports the U.S. Executive Director at the IMF Board of Directors. The Office also provides support to senior Treasury officials in for international economic policy dialogue and coordination in the G-7/8, G-10, and G-20 Ministerial and supporting groups. The IMF Office works with other International Affairs offices, and with the inter-agency process, to ensure that individual IMF lending programs and operations conform with U.S. strategic priorities.

The IMF Office had the inter-agency lead to support the Secretary of the Treasury during the U.S. 2004 chairmanship of the G-7 and G-10 group of countries. The Office also played a lead role in supporting the NSC contribution to the President's chairmanship of a June 2004 Summit of G-8 countries in Sea Island , Georgia . With regard to the IMF, the Office has played a main role to advance the agenda of improving the quality and focus of IMF loans. This has included a “Strategic Review” of IMF (and World Bank) priorities, and the recommended creation of a facility to provide IMF policy advice and oversight in the absence of IMF finance.

The Office had the lead in considering financial options for IMF engagement with poor countries, including consideration of grant making by the IMF, financial options to clear the large arrears of several post-conflict countries, and preliminary consideration of additional reduction of some poor countries' repayment obligations to the IMF. The Office also reviewed in detail the strength of the IMF's finances and its ability to cope with risk in its lending portfolio.

Looking forward, the IMF Office will be maintaining a bi-monthly snapshot review of the IMF lending portfolio, with a focus on “upstream” problems in implementation. The Office will be preparing policy memoranda on individual IMF loan proposals to assess their quality and conformity with U.S. policy objectives. Key G-7 policies will include the continuation of the “Strategic Review” of IMF operations, with a near term a focus on options for IMF debt relief.