Over the past 12 months the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation (CSGR) at the University of Warwick together with four civil society organizations has engaged in a dialogue with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of an External Advisory Panel on social safeguards in IMF loan programmes to protect spending in low income countries on poor and vulnerable groups. Together with representatives from the New Rules for Global Finance Coalition, Development Finance International, the Bretton Woods Project, and Civil Society for Poverty Reduction Zambia, CSGR director Dr André Broome has participated in an advisory process on the conceptual scope and design of a new IMF policy paper on the use of social safeguards in loan programmes led by the IMF’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department.

The policy paper, which was discussed and approved by the IMF’s Executive Board on May 26, was published online in English on June 6, and French and Arabic versions of the Executive Summary will be available soon. The report aims to improve best practices associated with the use of social safeguards to protect spending for poor and vulnerable groups within PRGT and PSI-supported IMF loan programmes, and identifies a number of areas where IMF policies and future practices might be improved, including recommendations to increase efforts to strengthen social safety nets in low income countries.

IMF Policy Paper: Social Safeguards and Program Design in PRGT and PSI-Supported Programs. Available at: http://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2017/06/01/pp042117social-safeguards-and-program-design-in-prgt-and-psi