Statement by the Managing Director on the Independent Evaluation Office Report on IMF Engagement with Small Developing States: Executive Board Meeting May 6, 2022

I welcome the report of the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) on IMF Engagement with Small Developing States (SDS), which finds a substantive and well-tailored Fund engagement with SDS across modalities over the last decade. I broadly agree that, going forward, the Fund’s continuous high-quality engagement—cognizant of the unique characteristics and challenges faced by SDS—should help enhance traction with this group of members. With the Fund’s agenda already well-oriented toward supporting SDS, including through new workstreams, I concur that a targeted recalibration of the Fund’s work on SDS would be the most effective at this juncture. However, the four recommendations and their detailed suggestions must be weighed against their budgetary implications, which are inconsistent with the just-approved Medium-Term Strategy and budget. The report and its recommendations should also be careful to not impinge upon areas that are still unfolding, such as the RST, crisis response, and CD provision, to avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts and ensure that a coherent and evenhanded framework is in place. I offer qualified and/or partial support to the recommendations, as discussed below, to serve better our SDS members.