With regard to surveillance, an IMF staff team visited Ireland in May 2002 and the Executive Board discussed the Article IV Report in July.  As in previous years, the Irish Government agreed to the publication of the Report. Ireland strongly supports publication of Article IV reports to contribute to transparency.

The Executive Board of the IMF once again commended Ireland for its impressive economic performance, reflected in sustained gains in income and employment over the last decade, and rooted in sound economic policies, a skilled workforce and flexible labour market, and an investor-friendly environment.   The Board warned that “there are significant downside risks to the global recovery, and that the continued appreciation of the euro combined with relatively high inflation and labour costs could adversely affect Ireland’s competitiveness – particularly in the traditional employment-intensive industries – and the strength of the recovery”.

The Board would have preferred a neutral stance in 2002 but agreed “that measures to unwind the stimulus are not advisable at this time in view of the uncertainty of the recovery and the still-sound fiscal position”. The Board, however, stressed that “public expenditure, particularly wages, should be held to budgeted levels, and that fiscal policy should, at a minimum, be neutral in 2003”.  The Board expressed concern “over the marked deterioration in the medium term fiscal outlook, which unless checked, could risk Ireland’s growth prospects”.

The Board urged a “cautious approach in phasing in the pay increases agreed under the recent benchmarking agreement”.  While noting that “continued dialogue among the social partners could be helpful for maintaining social consensus and establishing wage norms”, the Board emphasised that wages should be permitted to reflect market forces, including on the downside and across skill categories”.  It further suggested that “any future national wage agreement be divorced from reliance on fiscal concessions”.

On the revenue side, the Board noted that “should a case emerge for additional spending, it would be necessary to find efficient sources of additional revenue” and while there was broad agreement that measures to widen the tax base are preferable to increasing tax rates, the Board cautioned against “excessive increases in marginal taxes on labour, given possible adverse effects on labour supply and competitiveness”.

The increase in the allocation for official development assistance and the authorities’ commitment to achieve the UN target of 0.7% of GNP by 2007 was welcomed by the Board.

Minister McCreevy welcomed the IMF’s assessment of Irish economic policies and prospects and agreed that our economy now faces a number of challenges which must be addressed if we are to maintain our competitiveness.   He stated that the Board’s conclusions would provide a useful input to the development to ensure the success of our economy in future years.

B.     Financial Participation

1. IMF

Ireland is a member of the IMF since 1957. Ireland’s quota, rated in Special Drawing Rights (SDR), stands at SDR 838.4 million.

Special Drawing Rights

In 1969 the IMF created the SDR an artificial currency unit defined as a basket of national currencies. The SDR is used as an international reserve asset to supplement members' existing reserve assets, i.e., official holdings of gold, foreign exchange and reserve positions in the IMF. The SDR is the IMF's unit of account. IMF voting shares and loans are all denominated in SDRs. The SDR serves as the unit of account for a number of other international organisations including the World Bank.  Four currencies maintain a currency peg against the SDR. Some private financial instruments are also denominated in SDRs.

2. World Bank Group

Ireland is currently a member of the Bank and its four affiliates, the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.

Ireland joined the World Bank (IBRD) in 1957.  Our total capital subscription to the Bank to date amounts to about US$636 million or about 0.34% of total subscriptions. About 6%, or some US$37 million, of subscriptions has been paid in and is usable by the Bank for lending. The remaining 94% of the subscription is non-paid-in, or callable, capital which constitutes a general guarantee of the Bank’s obligations.

Ireland joined the International Development Association (IDA) in 1960. Ireland’s cumulative “paid in” contributions to June 2002 amounted to a total of  US$142.7 million. 

Ireland joined the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 1958. Our subscription to the IFC’s capital amounts to about US$1.29 million, all of which is paid-in.

Ireland is a member of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) since its establishment in 1988 having ratified the convention establishing MIGA on 5 July 1989.  Following the implementation of the 1998 capital increase, Ireland’s shareholding on 30 June 2002 stood at 650 shares. This represents total subscribed capital of US$7.0 million of which US$1.3 million[18] is classified as paid-in capital with the remainder being subject to call.

Ireland signed the Convention establishing the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in 1966, but only ratified it in 1980 with the passing of the Arbitration Act, 1980.  The Minister for Finance, as Governor of the World Bank for Ireland, is an ex-officio member of the Administrative Council of ICSID.  There is no direct subscription or contribution to ICSID whose expenses are met from IBRD resources.

3. Global Environment Facility

Ireland is also a member of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The GEF is an established funding mechanism for international co-operation. Its purpose is to provide new and additional grant and concessional funding to developing countries to meet the agreed incremental costs of measures to achieve agreed global environmental benefit, with contributions mainly emanating from the developed world. The GEF is jointly administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank.

Contributions were made to GEF totaling £1.64 million over the 4 year period to 1997, and £3.69 million over the 4 year period (1998-2001).

Negotiations on the Third Replenishment for the period 2002-2005 were concluded in October 2002 and the first payment of €1,469 million was made in December 2002.

4.     Ireland Aid - World Bank Trust Funds 

Ireland Aid contributions to Trust Funds and co-financing of World Bank Institutions

Ireland Aid maintains two consultancy Trust Funds at the Bank - the World Bank General Consultancy Trust Fund (CTF), which was established in 1986, and a Technical Assistance Trust Fund (TATF) with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), established in 1995.  The World Bank and the IFC manage these trust funds respectively, and they are used to provide technical assistance and consultancies in developing countries. In 2002, Ireland replenished the CTF with €1,650,660 and the TATF with €380,921.

Ireland Aid also contributed €126,974 to the Foreign Investment Advisory Service in 2002. A three-year multi-annual co-financing agreement totaling €600,000 with the World Bank’s training and human resource development agency, the World Bank Institute (WBI), was completed in 2002. A new agreement with WBI will be negotiated in the course of 2003. Finally, Ireland contributed €1,371,317 in 2002 to its World Bank Education Trust Fund, which was established for the first time in 2001.

Ireland Aid also contributed €11.3 million to the multilateral Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund.

Ireland Aid was broadly satisfied with the development of its World Bank Trust Funds in 2002. A particular focus in 2002 was projects designed at improving developing countries’ trade capacity and promoting private sector growth in developing countries. Ireland Aid considers the Trust Funds a useful tool for extending, in a cost effective way, Ireland Aid’s reach into areas for the provision of technical assistance and consultancies in developing countries with the very rich resource of the World Bank’s unrivalled expertise in these areas.

Ireland Aid participated in the technical meeting of HIPC donors and multilateral development banks in Paris on 24 October 2002 to address the financing gap facing the enhanced HIPC initiative. 

C.     Administrative participation

1. Governance

Boards of Governors [see also Section I]

The Boards of Governors of the Bank and the Fund, which consist of one representative from each member country, shape the overall policy direction. The Minister for Finance is the Governor for Ireland in both institutions. In the IMF the position of Alternate Governor is held by the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland and in the World Bank the position of Alternate Governor is held by the Secretary-General of the Department of Finance. Most functions of the Governors are delegated to the Boards of Directors (24 Executive Directors on each Board). 

Boards of Directors

The Executive Directors are resident in Washington and meet regularly to approve loans and/or discuss policies. Their functions include the following:

• Determining the policy of the Bank and the Fund.
• Overseeing the management of the Bank and the Fund.
• Acting as a channel of communication between the Bank/Fund and their shareholders, namely member governments.
• Representing the interests of shareholders and their nationals.

Executive Directors for larger shareholders represent only their own country (i.e. USA, UK, Germany, Russia, China, France, Japan and Saudi Arabia). Other Executive Directors represent a group of countries known as a constituency. There are 16 such multiple member constituencies ranging in size from 2% to 5% of the total voting strength.

2. The Irish Constituency

The Canadian/Irish/Caribbean constituency is one such constituency in the IMF and the World Bank.

Canada is by far the largest member of our constituency, accounting for some 80% of the constituency votes in both the Bank and the Fund.  Ireland comes next in size accounting for some 10%. The other countries in the constituency are Antigua and Barbuda[19], the Bahamas19, Barbados19, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana20, Jamaica19, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines. These countries account together for the remainder of the constituency vote. The composition of the constituency in which Ireland is a member is therefore quite balanced.  It contains one G7 member (Canada), one from the EU (Ireland) and eleven English speaking Caribbean countries at various stages of development.

The constituency is therefore representative of a wide range of interests in both the Fund and the Bank. This mix of representative interests within the constituency is undoubtedly very helpful in developing an informed and balanced response to issues.

Within the constituency the relationship between Ireland, Canada and the Caribbean countries is particularly good. The Canadian Executive Directors are Mr Ian Bennett, at the IMF and M. Marcel Massé at the World Bank, Ms. Terrie O’Leary left her position as the World Bank Executive Director in late 2002. The Irish Alternate Executive Director at the Fund, is Mr Nioclás Ó Murchú and the Irish Senior Advisor at the World Bank is Mr Donal Cahalane. 

The Irish Alternate Executive Director at the Fund

In addition to Mr Nioclás O’Murchú the Constituency Office has three Advisors (two from Canada and one from the Caribbean) and two Assistants (from Canada). Each advisor can act on behalf of the Constituency in the absence of the Executive Director and the Alternate. The Alternate organises the work of the Office and participates with colleagues in  developing positions that the Constituency will take at the Executive Board on major policy and country-specific issues. He is also responsible within the Office for the Fund’s budget, staff salaries and pensions and administrative matters.

In the year under review, Mr O’Murchú was heavily involved in the annual Article IV consultations between IMF staff and Ireland, Belize and Dominica, and represented the authorities of these countries – and of a number of other Caribbean Constituency members - at the associated Board discussions. Within the Office, he has overall responsibility for the interests of the six small island states which comprise the Organisation of East Caribbean States (OECS).  This task is assuming greater prominence with the increased inter-action between these countries and the Fund as a result of the deterioration in their economic and budgetary positions in 2001 and 2002 stemming from the global slowdown, the impact on tourism of the events of September 11, natural disasters and the continuing phased withdrawal of EU trade preferences for bananas and sugar.  Indeed, in 2002, the Irish Alternate took an active part in negotiations on, and in the subsequent Board assessment of, a programme of Fund assistance for Dominica.

Within the IMF, there are regular and frequent informal meetings of EU country representatives, which are chaired by the representative of the country holding the EU Presidency. In 2002, the Irish Alternate participated in the proceedings of the group, liaised with the Irish representatives on EU committees and kept the Irish authorities briefed on a wide range of current international monetary and financial issues. He also represented the Constituency at Article IV discussions of a number of EU and accession countries. 

The Irish Alternate either represented the Constituency or liaised closely with the relevant office colleagues on all major policy issues coming before the Board, and on general or country-specific matters relating to the Enhanced HIPC Initiative and the PRGF/PRSP process.  The same procedure applied in the case of discussions on African countries such as Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Lesotho in which Ireland has a particular interest. 

The Irish Senior Advisor at the World Bank

M. Massé, the Executive Director for the Constituency has three Senior Advisors. Two of these are Canadian and one Irish. Their roles are to advise the Director on various matters, usually arising from the extensive range of proposals and documents presented to the Board for consideration, but also including the business of Board Committees and Sub-committees, Technical Briefings and seminars. The Irish Senior Advisor, Donal Cahalane, is responsible for monitoring, analysing and advising on Bank policies and operations for certain countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, as well as on various strategies and sectors. He has specific responsibility for servicing the Board's monthly Steering Committee meeting, which schedules and reviews the Board's Work Programme.  He is also responsible to the Audit Committee, of which the Constituency has been a member since November 2002.

The Irish Senior Advisor attends all Board and Committee meetings dealing with issues for which he has responsibility and/or which are of particular interest to Ireland. In the absence of the Executive Director or Alternate, he may occupy the Constituency chair for those meetings.

The Irish Senior Advisor, as the official Irish representative to the organisation, also works to see that national interests are covered in all areas of Board and Bank activity. This includes working to bring Irish concerns on relevant issues to the attention of staff and Directors. For example, a copy of the Ireland Aid Policy on Developing Country Debt was made available to the President of the Bank and to all Executive Directors.

The Senior Advisor liaises on and coordinates these activities with the Departments of Finance and Foreign Affairs (Ireland Aid) in Dublin and maintains a close working relationship with senior staff in the embassy in Washington. They in turn raise issues that they wish to have addressed, and provide material on Irish policy, operations, and views affecting Ireland’s relationship with the World Bank Group. The Senior Advisor reciprocates by keeping the Irish authorities appraised of developments at the Bank, by circulating Board papers and other relevant documentation.

During 2002, the Constituency intervened on a wide range of issues, including the IDA 13 replenishment negotiations, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers for Ethiopia, Zambia and Vietnam, and the food crisis in Sub Saharan Africa. The Senior Advisor also worked to ensure that Irish views were reflected in these interventions, and in the Statement of the Canadian Minister for Finance to the joint Bank/Fund Development Committee meetings in the Spring and Autumn.

During 2002, the Senior Advisor was heavily involved in facilitating two visits to the Bank by senior Ireland Aid representatives, including the Director General of that organisation, Mr David O'Donoghue. These provided an opportunity to update the Bank on the evolution of Ireland Aid's strategy and budget for development assistance, and for the Bank to outline priorities and progress on its side. On the second of these visits, the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (with responsibility for Overseas Development and Human Rights), Mr Tom Kitt, T.D., was amongst those who met with the Executive Director and key members of the Bank management team.

Communications are exchanged with Irish NGOs and representatives of Civil Society generally on a range of matters. During 2002, the Senior Advisor helped to arrange a meeting between a group of Canadian and Irish NGOs and the Fund and Bank Executive Directors and their senior staff. This gave both sides an opportunity to express their views on such issues as the HIPC Initiative, the promotion of the Ireland Aid Debt Strategy, and the Bretton Woods organisations' efforts to support poverty reduction in developing countries.

Late in the year, the Senior Advisor paid brief visits to Ethiopia and Uganda, at the suggestion of Ireland Aid. The itineraries covered detailed discussions with representatives of Ireland Aid, governments, NGOs, and other donors, as well as some field trips. The purpose was to get first-hand exposure to the problems and conditions prevailing in these priority countries, and thereby to enhance subsequent communications.

The Senior Advisor also facilitates contact between Irish consultants and task managers and other key Bank personnel. In the course of the year, some twenty Irish consultants, representing eight firms, visited the Constituency office at the Bank for the purpose of discussing mutual requirements. Many of these encounters culminate in participation by Irish experts in Bank developments projects and programmes.

In addition there was a mid-year group visit by several consultants, organised by Enterprise Ireland to provide familiarisation and update on the Bank's activities, policies and personnel in relevant areas. Many donor countries monitor and participate in Bank operations in this way.

The Bank's Annual Report shows that it procured consultant services and equipment to the value of US$8 million from Irish sources during the Fiscal Year ended June 30 2002. The cumulative figure was US $364 million.

Finally, the Senior Advisor works with his colleagues from other EU member countries to evaluate and coordinate common approaches to those of the Bank's strategies, policies and operations that have significant implications for the group. 

3. Visits to Ireland from IMF and World Bank in 2002

As well as contact through the Washington headquarters the Department of Finance maintains ongoing contact with the World Bank Office for the UK, Ireland and the Nordic countries which is located in London.

In November 2002 officials from the London office of the World Bank visited Dublin to discuss a wide range of current issues, including a forthcoming visit of the World Bank President, Mr James Wolfensohn, to Dublin. The officials met with the Department of Finance (Ireland Aid), and also went on to consult with officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and with representatives of the non-governmental organisations.

The World Bank Vice President for Europe, M. Jean-Francois Rischard visited Dublin in December 2002. He met with officials from the Department of Finance and also had a meeting with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs.  He delivered a speech to the University College Dublin Centre for Development which was attended by approximately 45 postgraduate students and lecturers from the Centre.

On Tuesday 3rd December 2002 he was interviewed by the The Irish Independent newspaper and by TV3’s Agenda programme who broadcast the interview. M. Rischard met with Minister of State Kitt, with special responsibility for Overseas Development Assistance and Humanitarian Affairs.  Minister of State Kitt also hosted a meeting for M. Rischard and a group of Non-Governmental Organisations to discuss pertinent issues.

Visits such as these are extremely important, especially in recent years, as both the Bank and the Fund seek to improve their contacts with civil society groups and to increase the transparency of their own decision-making processes.   

4. Department of Agriculture and Food and World Bank Seminar on Agriculture, Science and Technology. 

Introduction

The first[21] meeting of a global consultative process on an international assessment of the role of agricultural science and technology in reducing hunger, improving rural livelihoods and stimulating environmentally sustainable economic growth over the coming decades took place in Dublin from November 6-8 2002. The meeting was convened by the World Bank and hosted by the Department of Agriculture & Food.

Participation in the meeting was worldwide and geographically balanced, with over 100 participants from governments, the private sector, NGOs, farmer and other producer groups, consumer groups, the research community and international organisations in attendance. Participants included senior technical and policy advisors, cabinet members, CEOs and civil society representatives. Irish attendance at the meeting included experts from the Department of Agriculture & Food, Teagasc, Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Environmental Protection Agency, NGOs and Universities. The meeting had four main goals and progress on achieving each of these is briefly summarised below. 

Goal 1: Discuss the value of an assessment of agricultural science and technology

There was general agreement that assessments can be used to strengthen national and international science and decision-making structures, and possibly provide the justification for increased public sector funding and improved public-private partnerships given the “global public goods” nature of agricultural science & technology.

Goal 2: Finalise the details of the consultative process and advise on the composition and terms of reference for the steering committee

The basic structure of the consultative process, consisting of regional meetings and video-conferences in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and North America, as well as an interactive web site, was endorsed. The regional meetings must include all stakeholders, but also be manageable (i.e., 50-100 participants) and include discussions of issues important to the region. There was broad consensus that there must be balanced high-level representation on the steering committee (e.g. between industrialised and developing countries, within the private sector and gender balance). It was agreed that the World Bank would finalise the composition of the steering committee after further consultations and reflection.

The steering committee will:

• Oversee and participate in the consultation process;
• Elicit feedback on the proposed assessment process from the stakeholder group they represent;
• Be responsible for final recommendation to all stakeholder groups on the need for an international assessment on agricultural science and technology; and
• If the recommendation is to proceed, then the steering committee will advise on issues such as: governance, management, principles and procedures, the scope and time frame of the assessment and funding.

Goal 3: Discuss a list of key questions for the proposed assessment, i.e., define the scope of the assessment

Since this assessment cannot engage the full rural development agenda there was general agreement that it should focus on understanding the needs of producers and consumers and on an analysis of existing knowledge, including indigenous knowledge, and identification of critical gaps in knowledge. The assessment should be policy relevant and not policy prescriptive, i.e., the assessment should assess the implications of different policy choices, but should not try and prescribe what policies should be adopted.

Goal 4: Discuss a proposed organisational structure and set of governing principles and procedures for the assessment

There was limited discussion, due to time constraints, on issues associated with the organisational and governance structure of the proposed assessment. Some of these are whether the assessment should be intergovernmental or non-governmental, who will determine the scope, who selects the authors and peer-reviewers, who approves it, and who funds it.

Conclusion

The overall tone and mood of the meeting was very positive and the dialogue constructive. However, a number of stakeholder groups made it quite clear that there were a number of conditions to their continued participation in the consultative process. Nonetheless:

• All participants agreed that the assessment should not focus on biotechnology and genetically modified organisms;
• All agreed that the assessment must be focused and must deliver concrete results within a reasonable time frame.

Additional information on this consultative process is available from the website, http://www.agassessment.org.

5. International Financial Corporation/ European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Seminar

On 22nd February 2002 Enterprise Ireland hosted an information seminar for companies interested in pursuing opportunites from projects funded by the International Financial Institutions.  The speakers included Mr. Arthur Levi, Director of IFC Europe and Mr. Michael Flynn, Director of the EBRD. The seminar was followed by one on one meetings with companies interested in exploring opportunities. There were 56 participants from Irish industry. This seminar was organised as part of Enterprise Ireland's International Financing Institutions Initiative.

6. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs - Visits to Africa

Minister of State Kitt visited Malawi and Zambia in August 2002 to see first-hand the severity of the food crisis afflicting these countries. The trip revealed the extent to which the very high level of HIV/AIDS in Malawi and Zambia was compounding the food crisis.

Minister of State Kitt visited Mozambique on 7 - 8 November  for a EU-SADC Ministerial Meeting. The main purpose of this meeting was the signature of the SADC/European Community Regional Strategy Paper and Regional Indicative Programme for the period 2002 - 2007.

Minister of State Kitt visited Ethiopia in 23-30 November 2002 to assess the extent of, and response to, the humanitarian crisis due to a large shortfall in crop production due to erratic rainfall. The visit highlighted the chronic nature of poverty and vulnerability in Ethiopia whereby people are extremely vulnerable to any further shocks to already compromised and fragile livelihood systems. Ireland Aid, through the Country Programme, has a strong profile in Ethiopia. In 2002, Ireland gave €2.45 million in emergency humanitarian aid and €23 million in long-term development support.

7. Ireland Aid and the World Bank

In recognition of the Bank’s role as the foremost international lender of development finance and an increasingly important actor in the area of development policy, Ireland Aid has sought to develop a strategic partnership in a number of areas with the Bank. In its 2002 report, the Ireland Aid Review Committee recommended that the dialogue between Ireland Aid and the World Bank be intensified, that close coordination with the Department of Finance on issues arising at the World Bank be continued, and that there be systematic reporting from Irish Embassies on issues such as debt relief or the local impact of the Bank in relation to poverty reduction. Ireland Aid has been giving effect to these recommendations in the course of 2002.

Ireland is an increasingly important partner of the World Bank through our national contributions to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Trust Fund, the International Development Agency and various other development funds managed by the Bank. At the country level we also have close cooperation with it in countries such as Uganda and Tanzania.

As part of the strategy to intensify the dialogue, Minister of State for Development Cooperation, Mr. Tom Kitt, TD, visited the Bank’s Washington headquarters in November 2002 where he held discussions on a range of issues with the Bank including: our concerns about the failure of the HIPC Initiative to deliver greater debt relief; the Global Fund to fight HIV/Aids, Malaria and TB; its Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Programme for Africa; the Bank’s lead role in the area of ICTs and development; the Fast Track Initiative on education in developing countries as well as aspects of Ireland Aid’s more direct involvement with the Bank such as our financial contributions to its consultancy trust funds and the World Bank Institute’s Education Trust.

In order to strengthen the coordination between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Finance on development issues arising at the Executive Board of the Bank, Ireland’s representative at the Bank visited Uganda and Ethiopia for meetings with Ireland Aid representatives and for discussions with Bank regional representatives.

8. Co-operation with the Department of Foreign Affairs

The World Bank's central role in the current debate on debt forgiveness for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) together with its increasing influence on wider development issues necessitates the closest co-operation between the Departments of Finance and Foreign Affairs. Ireland Aid caters for six priority countries in Africa, of which five are officially classified as HIPCs.

The Departments of Finance and Foreign Affairs also co-operated closely with regard to :

• preparations for the major global summit on "Financing for Development (FfD)", Monterrey, Mexico and
• publication of the Debt Strategy Document[22], which was published in July 2002. 

There are constant contacts between Ireland Aid and the International Financial Institutions Section in the Department of Finance on ongoing issues relating to the international Institutions and Overseas Development Assistance matters.  

9. Interaction with Non-Government Organisations (NGOs)

In this context, Minister of State Tom Kitt hosted a forum on 3 December 2002 at which he, M. Jean-Francois Rischard, World Bank Vice President, and representatives of the Irish NGO development umbrella group, Dóchas, and the Debt and Development Coalition had a very useful exchange of views on a range of issues across the development agenda of mutual concern and interest.

Section IV   Legislation  

Ireland’s participation in the Bretton Woods Institutions is governed by the following Acts of the Oireachtas: 

Ø     Bretton Woods Agreements Acts, 1957 to 1999

Ø     International Development Association Acts, 1960 to 2000

Ø     International Finance Corporation Act, 1958

Ø     Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Act, 1988

Ø     Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (Amendment) Act, 2000 

Legislative Programme in 2002

No legislation was required to be initiated or enacted in 2002.

Section V   The Brazil Facility 

Background

The background to this issue was dealt with in the 1999 report.

The Guarantee given by Ireland and operated by the Central Bank was not drawn on and has now expired.

The Central Bank’s role in the BIS credit facility for Brazil under the Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) Act, 1999 is set out in Appendix 10

[17]   Under the terms of Article IV of the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund, the IMF undertakes periodic examinations of member economies. All material published by the IMF pertaining to Ireland is available on the IMF website at http://www.imf.org/external/country/IRL/index.htm. A copy of the associated Public Information Notice (PIN) is at Appendix 6 of this report while the concluding statement of the IMF Mission on the economic policies of the euro area is at Appendix 7. 

[18] Of the US$1.3 million paid-in capital, US$0.9 million was paid in cash with the remainder lodged in the form of a promissory note at the time of the initial capital subscription. While this is recorded by MIGA as paid-in capital, events have been overtaken by the 1998 capital increase and in reality it is highly unlikely that any cash payment will have to be made on foot of the promissory note.

[19]members of IMF and IBRD only.

[20]not in our IMF constituency.

[21] Welcome address given by Minister for Agriculture Mr Joe Walsh TD is at Appendix 9

[22]The Executive Summary is in Appendix 8

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