IMF executive board approves new central bank transparency code

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the new IMF Central Bank Transparency Code (CBT).

The development of the CBT follows on the Board’s direction in April 2019 to update the 1999 Monetary and Financial Policies Transparency Code, and bring it in line with the recommendations of the 2017 Joint Review of the Standards and Codes Initiative, indicating the need for risk-based assessments to support policy effectiveness and address macroeconomic risks.

“The CBT will be applicable, on a voluntary basis, to all IMF members, including less-developed economies. The modular, risk-based, and proportional set-up is well-suited to taking into account country-specific circumstances.

“This will also enable the CBT to serve as a tailored diagnostic tool in IMF capacity development and facilitate the voluntary use of the CBT in Financial Sector Assessment Programs and IMF surveillance, such as Article IV consultations, and in an IMF‑supported program context,”  according to the IMF Press Release.

It stated that the accompanying paper outlined the CBT’s five-pillar framework and the proposed application of the CBT.

The IMF also noted that the CBT, its principles and the detailed practices, were developed after extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders.

“The preparation of the CBT benefited from guidance from a high-level advisory panel, consisting of eminent former central bank governors and academics, and input from an extensive consultation process with central banks and other relevant international organizations.

“These engagements will help ensure that the CBT can provide strong, clear, and detailed guidance to central banks regarding their own transparency.

“The paper also notes the importance of the CBT for policy effectiveness and accountability in light of the wide-ranging policy measures undertaken by central bank in recent years in response to extraordinary shocks, including from the COVID-19 pandemic.” the IMF further said.

The modular, risk-based, and proportional set-up was well-suited to taking into account country-specific circumstances, it added. (VON)