Staff Response to the Independent Evaluation Office Report on the Role of the Imf as Trusted Advisor

We welcome the IEO’s evaluation of this critical issue, which contains interesting analysis and information, and look forward to implementing recommendations that are endorsed by the Board. In particular, we welcome the finding that the Fund’s image has improved markedly since the crisis, and we recognize the need for further work to build on this. However, we found that the tone of the report was unduly negative in places given that the balance of the evidence indicates that the large majority of authorities held positive views of the Fund and its work. Moreover, while some of the recommendations are helpful, certain are problematic: they are not clearly supported by the evidence or the analysis, would not necessarily solve the difficulties that have been identified, or would raise major implementation difficulties.