IMF South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center

IMF SOUTH ASIA REGIONAL

TRAINING AND TECHNICAL

ASSISTANCE CENTER

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Institute for Capacity Development

Global Partnerships Division

700 19th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20431 USA

T. +(1) 202.623.7636

F. +(1) 202.623.7106

GlobalPartnerships@IMF.org

South Asia Training and

Technical Assistance Center

6th Floor, Worldmark 2 Building

Aerocity, New Delhi 110037, India

T. +(91) 011.4928.1000

SARTTAC@IMF.org

SART TAC.org

ANNUAL

REPORT

2023

FOREWORD

This report was prepared by David Cowen, Ankit

Singh, and Mudit Mittal in the IMF South Asia

Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center

(SARTTAC), with inputs from the long-term expert

advisors, Pramod Bhardwaj, Debraj Chaudhuri,

and Nidhi Mehrotra in SARTTAC, and from Reem

Sweiss and Ana Rosales in the IMF Institute for

Capacity Development. Mishri Someshwar in the

IMF Corporate Services and Facilities Department

led preparation of the publication version of the

report. The views expressed here are those of

SARTTAC, with thanks to IMF and external stake-

holders for permission to use quotes provided

in the report.

Bhutan

Nepal

India

Sri Lanka

Bangladesh

Maldives

(Korea)

European Union

IMF SARTTAC Member Countries:

Development Partners:

SARTTAC is generously supported by:

Foreign, Commonwealth

& Development Office

FOREWORD

This report was prepared by David Cowen, Ankit

Singh, and Mudit Mittal in the IMF South Asia

Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center

(SARTTAC), with inputs from the long-term expert

advisors, Pramod Bhardwaj, Debraj Chaudhuri,

and Nidhi Mehrotra in SARTTAC, and from Reem

Sweiss and Ana Rosales in the IMF Institute for

Capacity Development. Mishri Someshwar in the

IMF Corporate Services and Facilities Department

led preparation of the publication version of the

report. The views expressed here are those of

SARTTAC, with thanks to IMF and external stake-

holders for permission to use quotes provided

in the report.

Bhutan

Nepal

India

Sri Lanka

Bangladesh

Maldives

(Korea)

European Union

IMF SARTTAC Member Countries:

Development Partners:

SARTTAC is generously supported by:

Foreign, Commonwealth

& Development Office

IMF SOUTH ASIA REGIONAL

TRAINING AND TECHNICAL

ASSISTANCE CENTER

ANNUAL

REPORT

2023

ACRONYMS

AND ABBREVIATIONS

APD IMF Asia and Pacic Department

AML/CFT Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting

the Financing of Terrorism

BB Bangladesh Bank

BBS Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics

CBDCs Central Bank Digital Currencies

CBDT Central Board of Direct Taxes (India)

CBSL Central Bank of Sri Lanka

CCCDI IMF COVID-19 Crisis Capacity

Development Initiative

CD Capacity Development

CDDs Capacity Development Departments

CDMAP Capacity Development Management and

Administration Program

CDOT IMF Capacity Development Ofce

in Thailand

CFAT Cash Forecasting and Analysis Tool

CIC Currency in Circulation

CMU Cash Management Unit

COFOG Classication of the Functions

of Government

CPI Consumer Price Index

DP Development Partner

EU European Union

FAD IMF Fiscal Affairs Department

FATF Financial Action Task Force

FD Finance Department

FMIS Financial Management

Information System

FPAS Forecasting and Policy Analysis System

FRM Fiscal Risk Management

FSR Financial Sector Supervision

and Regulation

FX Foreign Exchange

FY Fiscal Year

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GFS Government Finance Statistics

GFSM 2014 Government Finance Statistics

Manual 2014

GOO Government of Odisha (India)

GST Goods and Services Tax

HQ Headquarters

IAS Indian Administrative Service

ICD IMF Institute for Capacity Development

IES Indian Economic Service

ii Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC

IFRS International Financial

Reporting Standards

IMF International Monetary Fund

IPF Institute of Public Finance (Bangladesh)

ISORA International Survey on

Revenue Administration

JSA Japan Administered Account for Selected

IMF Activities

LBSNAA Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of

Administration (India)

LEG IMF Legal Department

LTX Long-Term Expert Advisor

MC Member Country

MCM IMF Monetary and Capital

Markets Department

MIEG Monthly Indicator of Economic Growth

MOF Ministry of Finance

MONOPS Monetary and Foreign

Exchange Operations

MTFF Medium-Term Fiscal Framework

MTMF Medium-Term Macroeconomic Framework

MTRS Medium-Term Revenue Strategy

NBU National Bank of Ukraine

PATS Participant and Applicant Tracking System

PD Program Document

PDM Public Debt Management

PFM Public Financial Management

PIMA Public Investment

Management Assessment

PSDS Public Sector Debt Statistics

QGDP Quarterly Gross Domestic Product

PSU Public Sector Undertaking

RA Revenue Administration

RBI Reserve Bank of India

RBM Results-Based Management

RCDC Regional Capacity Development Center

RSS Real Sector Statistics

SARTTAC IMF South Asia Regional Training and

Technical Assistance Center

SC Steering Committee

STA IMF Statistics Department

TA Technical Assistance

TADAT Tax Administration Diagnostic

Assessment Tool

TSA Treasury Single Account

UCoA Unied Chart of Accounts

WG Working Group

iiiAnnual Report 2023 | SARTTAC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Executive Summary

SECTION I

Introduction

SECTION II

Activities In FY23

8 A Overview

12 B Highlights by Sector

SECTION III

Workplan for FY24

28 A Overview

34 B Workplan by Sector

SECTION IV

SARTTAC Finances

44 A FY23 Budget Outturn

45 B Financial Position

47 C FY24 Budget

SECTION V

Other Issues

50 A Steering Committee

Meetings

54 B Mid-TermExternal Evaluation

55 C CD Dissemination

ANNEXES

58 Annex 1:

SARTTAC Staff List

60 Annex 2:

Update on CCCDI-Funded

Activities in SARTTAC on

Macro-Fiscal Frameworks

62 Annex 3:

SARTTAC Training Plan for

FY24

Annex 4:

SARTTAC TA Reports

Disseminated Through IMF

Partners Connect in FY23

Annual Report 2023 | SART TACiv |

46 Table 12:

SARTTAC Financial

Contributions Phase 1:

FY2017-FY2024

47 Table 13:

SARTTAC FY24 Budget

TABLES

9 Table 1:

Summary of SARTTAC Activities

in FY22 and FY23

9 Table 2:

Actual Resource Distribution by

Country and Sector in FY23

13 Table 3:

Status of Milestones by Sector

at End FY23

14 Table 4:

Participants by Country and

Gender in FY22 and FY23

16 Table 5:

ICD Training in FY23

17 Table 6:

Non-ICD Training in FY23

22 Table 7:

Technical Assistance Missions

by Country and Sector in FY23

30 Table 8:

Summary of SARTTAC Activities

in FY24

30 Table 9:

Planned Resource Distribution

by Country and Sector in FY24

Phase I

31 Table 10:

Summary Log Frame for FY24

44 Table 11:

SARTTAC FY23 Budget and

Expenditure

BOXES

4 Box 1:

Staff Changes in SARTTAC in

FY23

19 Box 2:

Focusing on the Importance

of Good COFOG Data in the

Region

Box 3:

Examining the Impact of Digital

Money on Monetary Policy

Implementation

23 Box 4: Modernizing the Chart

of Accounts in Bhutan

36 Box 5: Using TADATs to Guide

Revenue Administration

Reforms

37 Box 6: Implementing

Commitment Control and

Modernizing Cash Management

in Odisha (India)

39 Box 7: Establishing a Quarterly

GDP Program in Bangladesh

FIGURES

11 Figure 1:

Capacity Development

Distribution by Country and

Sector in FY23

13 Figure 2:

Changes in Learning Outcomes

Between FY19 and FY23

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC | v

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Fiscal year (FY) 23 (May 1, 2022 –

April30, 2023) marked an eventful

period for the IMF South Asia Regional

Training and Technical Assistance

Center (SARTTAC), representing the

sixth full year of operations, with this

report highlighting achievements

and milestones.

First, most activities were done

in-person, following two years of virtual

engagement due to the pandemic.

More than 70 technical assistance (TA)

missions were completed covering

each member country (MC) and across

different capacity development (CD)

programs in SARTTAC. Nearly 50

training events were also held in a wide

range of regional and national courses.

Main support came from the Center’s

long-term expert (LTX) advisors,

complemented by IMF headquarters

and external experts and in collabora-

tion with other IMF regional capacity

development centers and regional

CD providers.

Second, SARTTAC began a transition to

a new phase of operations, anchored

by India pledging US$50 million to

Phase II, which will commence in 2024.

All outstanding contributions to PhaseI

were also paid up in 2023, signifying

a strong commitment by MCs and

development partners to the Center’s

mission, with resources provide by

them to the IMF an essential element

of SARTTAC’s ability to provide high-

quality CD for South Asia and integrate

this work with Fund surveillance

and lending.

Finally, SARTTAC continued to adapt

to new and transformational needs in

CD by ensuring sufcient resources

were devoted to TA requirements

arising from IMF-supported lending

arrangements in Bangladesh, Nepal,

and SriLanka and providing support

(mainly training) in areas such as ntech

and govtech and on green budgeting

and climate data indicators.

Workplan implementation in FY23

was broadly in line with expectations,

with 98 percent of a revised plan

completed. Gaps in implementing the

original plan, endorsed in 2022 by

SARTTAC’s Steering Committee (SC),

were mainly related to a reprioritization

of CD needs by MCs and delivery chal-

lenges faced by SARTTAC due to hiring

lags in a few LTX positions.

As a complement to the workplan,

SARTTAC’s pandemic-related support

on strengthening macro-scal frame-

works through resources provided

under the IMF COVID-19 Crisis

Capacity Development Initiative also

reached a successful end in FY23, with

further work in this area, including with

selected India states, now continuing

mainly under the Center’s public nan-

cial management CD program.

With CD demand and delivery pros-

pects clearer in the post-pandemic

period and a full slate of LTXs going

into FY24, implementation constraints

have eased, with strong demand for

SARTTAC CD in all MCs. The FY24

workplan and budget, as endorsed

by the SC following its annual

meeting in June 2023, comprises a

40percent increase in planned activ-

ities, with nearly all expected to be

done in-person. The plan continues

to address transformational areas,

notably on climate, digitalization, and

gender, and new requests, such as

training on anti-money laundering/

combatting the nancing of terrorism

issues and selective attachments

and high-level seminars to foster

peer learning. Achievement of mile-

stones is expected to be stronger

owing to a recalibration of support in

certain areas.

Annual Report 2023 | SART TACvi |

SECTION I

INTRODUCTION

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION I | 1

INTRODUCTION

Mr. Ramanathan Subramanian

Executive Director,

International Department,

Reserve Bank of India

“SARTTAC is back in action in

full strength post-pandemic, and

rightly so, as its programs are

even more relevant and valuable

today for economic recovery.

We encourage SARTTAC to

have a continued focus on

macroeconomics, cohort

trainings, and increased state

government engagements.”

This report highlights the activi-

ties of the IMF South Asia Regional

Training and Technical Assistance

Center (SARTTAC) in FY23 (May

2022– April 2023) and lays out a

workplan for FY24. It comes at a time

when SARTTAC is reaching the end

of Phase I of its funding and opera-

tions. From its inception in February

2017 to April 2023, SARTTAC has

delivered more than 270 courses and

workshops to around 7,200 ofcials

and undertaken approximately 425

technical assistance (TA) missions

covering a range of activities in its six

member countries (MCs), including

at the sub-national level in India.

Phase I was originally programmed to

end in April 2022. However, it is now

expected to be extended to December

2023, with nancial resources suf-

cient until then mainly because of

lower-than- envisaged spending during

the pandemic and augmentation of

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s visit to SARTTAC

(September 9, 2022)

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC2 | SECTION I

support from Australia agreed in 2021.

In the meantime, work is proceeding

on Phase II, which is expected to begin

in January 2024 and run through April

2029, as discussed later in this report.

The FY23 workplan embraced reform

priorities, as identied by MCs and

the IMF Asia and Pacic Department

(APD) through the Fund’s surveillance

dialogue and lending operations. Its

planning and execution were aided

by IMF resident representative ofces

in the region, which help manage

SARTTAC’s relations with MCs and

provide a vital link to in-country

development partners (DPs) and other

capacity development (CD) providers.

In the workplan, special dispensation

was given to address vulnerabilities

in the region, largely resulting from

global shocks and selectively from

domestic policy missteps. In this

context, SARTTAC supported MCs in

implementing adjustment measures.

Under both original and revised

workplans in FY23, slightly more than

half of programmed CD was in scal-

related areas—revenue administration

(RA), public nancial management

(PFM), and government nance

statistics and public sector debt

statistics (GFS/PSDS), in keeping with

previous years and reecting the need

to strengthen scal policy regimes

and data collection in most MCs.

Country-wise, the workplan restored

CD resources in relative terms to their

pre-pandemic allocations, factoring in

a greater willingness of countries to

take TA support and CD requirements

under IMF-supported programs (now

with Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka).

Unlike the past two years, SARTTAC

was able to engage throughout South

Asia under mostly normal operations

in FY23. Fortunately, the region was

not affected by any major COVID-19

outbreaks during the scal year (FY).

In-person TA missions and training

took place under all CD programs,

with the latter, which restarted in

SARTTAC in March 2022, done under

a gradual easing in COVID-19 testing

requirements and course size restric-

tions used by SARTTAC to ensure the

safety of all.

Overall, SARTTAC and its MCs

were reasonably successful in

implementing the FY23 workplan.

Theoverall execution rate was 73

and 98 percent against original and

revised workplans, respectively.

SARTTAC’s Macroeconomics Module training at LBSNAA’s

97th Foundation Course (India) (October 10-14, 2022)

Bangladesh Bank Governor Mr. Abdur Rouf Talukder (center) hosting meeting

with Mr. David Cowen (Director, SARTTAC) and Mr. Jayendu De

(IMF Resident Representative for Bangladesh), joined by Deputy Governor

Mr. Kazi Sayedur Rahman (far left) and Mr. Md Julhas Uddin, Executive Director

(Research) and Alternate Representative for Bangladesh on SARTTAC’s

Steering Committee (far right) (September 22, 2022)

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION I | 3

BOX 1: STAFF CHANGES IN SARTTAC IN FY23

Oleg Churiy joined SARTTAC as the

Monetary and Foreign Exchange (FX)

Operations Advisor in March 2023,

taking over from his predecessor,

Stefaan Ide, who joined the IMF

Middle Eastern Regional Technical

Assistance Center in October 2022.

A Ukrainian national, he was Deputy

Governor of the National Bank of

Ukraine (NBU) during May 2015 to July

2020, responsible for implementing

monetary policy and FX policy and

regulation, managing FX reserves and

depository activities, and developing

market infrastructure. During his term,

the NBU’s key achievements included

successful transition of Ukraine to ina-

tion targeting, a oating exchange rate,

and liberalization of the FX regime,

attracting substantial foreign inows

into the government local debt market.

After departing NBU, Oleg worked as a

short-term expert for IMF. He also has

extensive experience in commercial

and investment banking.

Nitin Jain joined SARTTAC as Financial

Sector Regulation and Supervision

Advisor in May 2023, on deputation

from Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

He replaced Jacques Loubert, who

completed a ve-year term in SARTTAC

in August 2022. In Nitin’s 17-year career

in central banking, he has gained

extensive experience in banking

regulation and supervision, corporate

strategy and governance, and the

central bank’s role as banker to banks.

Nitin also worked at the European

Central Bank for three years, where

he was involved in supervisory policy

making and on-site examination of

signicant institutions. Prior to joining

the RBI, he was an Assistant Professor

at Jaipuria Institute of Management

(Lucknow). He holds a Ph.D. in

economics from the University of

Lucknow (India), is a certied Financial

Risk Manager, and earned a Post

Graduate Award in Financial Regulation

and Supervision from the University of

Warwick (United Kingdom).

Saji Thomas, Deputy Director, joined

SARTTAC in June 2023. An Indian

national, he replaced Bhaswar

Mukhopadhyay, who completed

a three-year term at SARTTAC in

February 2023 and retired from the

Fund in April 2023. Saji joined the

IMF in 2002, and has since worked

on surveillance, lending programs,

and technical assistance for a range

of countries in Africa, Asia, and the

Caribbean and Latin America. His

current research interests include

scal policy and its coordination with

monetary policy, sovereign debt, and

scal rules. Most recently, he was a

senior economist in the IMF Western

Hemisphere Department, working on

Jamaica. He previously served in the

IMF Fiscal Affairs Department with a

focus on emerging market economies

(including Sri Lanka) and low-income

countries. Prior to joining the Fund, Saji

worked as an economist in the World

Bank Research Department. He holds a

Ph.D. in Economics from the University

of Minnesota.

Christian Johnson, Macroeconomic

Advisor, completed a two-year

term in SARTTAC in April 2023 and

returned to the IMF Institute for

Capacity Development. A new advisor

(CharlineRamspacher) joined SARTTAC

in July 2023.

John Grinyer nished his term

as Macro-Fiscal Advisor based at

SARTTAC in May 2023, following the

end of funding for the post in SARTTAC

under the IMF COVID-19 Crisis

Capacity Development Initiative.

Pramod Bhardwaj rejoined SARTTAC

in June 2022 as Ofce Manager, after

having returned to the government of

India in January 2022 and subsequently

retiring from there after 20 years

of service.

Apoorba Mitra joined as a staff assis-

tant in July 2022, having previously

worked as a program assistant in a few

other agencies including the regional

ofce of Médecins Sans Frontières in

New Delhi.

See Annex 1 for a complete list of staff in SARTTAC.

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC4 | SECTION I

Thiseffort was underpinned by careful

formulation by SARTTAC of sector

work programs with MC agencies and

IMF capacity development depart-

ments (CDDs). Italso was done at a

time when there was considerable

rotation of long-term expert (LTX)

advisors in SARTTAC, as summarized

in Box 1.

SARTTAC will commence Phase II

of its operations in FY24. A new

Program Document (PD) is under

preparation and new funding commit-

ments have been sought with each

MC and DP. Anchoring this funding

is US$50 million pledge by India to

Phase II, representing a more than

50 percent increase in its contribu-

tion compared to PhaseI. To ensure

strong buy-in to SARTTAC’s mission

and ample support for IMF CD in

South Asia, the contribution of each

MC will be vital to the sustenance and

growth of the Center.

The rest of this report highlights

activities of SARTTAC in FY23 and

lays out its workplan for FY24.

Section II summarizes main activities

in FY23. A spotlight is also placed

on CD successes achieved during

the year—some on new projects

highlighted in SARTTAC’s 2022

Annual Report.

Section III lays out

sector and country workplans for

FY24, covering main objectives and

envisaged support. Section IV looks

at SARTTAC’s nances—both the FY23

outturn and FY24 budget. Finally,

Section V updates on the mid-term

external evaluation and the move

toward Phase II of SARTTAC’s funding

and operations.

See https://www.sarttac.org/content/dam/

SARTTAC/Annual_Reports/SARTTAC%20

Annual%20Report%20FY22_Web.pdf

Mr. Bam Bahadur Mishra

Deputy Governor,

Nepal Rastra Bank

“SARTTAC has consistently

demonstrated its commitment in

fostering regional cooperation,

knowledge sharing, and capacity

building in the region. We

commend its efforts in facilitating

the exchange of experiences and

best practices of central banks in

South Asia for regional economic

integration and harmonization

ofpolicies.”

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION I | 5

SECTION II

ACTIVITIES IN FY23

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION II | 7

SECTION II

OVERVIEW

Mrs. K. M. A. N. Daulagala

Deputy Governor,

Central Bank of Sri Lanka

“We appreciate the technical

assistance and capacity building

support received from SARTTAC

especially in the recent difcult

economic phase of Sri Lanka

and are very pleased with the

capacity building program that

SARTTAC has identied for

SriLanka going forward.”

SARTTAC’s activities in FY23 were

anchored by an annual workplan,

which placed greater focus on TA

compared to recent years owing to

the resumption of in-person delivery.

The plan was endorsed by SARTTAC’s

Steering Committee (SC) at its sixth

annual meeting in July 2022 and

revised at an interim meeting in

February 2023. The number of TA

missions was originally programmed

to increase by two-thirds. On the

other hand, fewer training events

were planned than in FY22, with a

shift towards full-edged, in-person

training courses. The workplan (both

original and revised) took account

of existing and prospective commit-

ments under IMF-supported lending

arrangements in Nepal (since January

2022), Bangladesh (January 2023), and

SriLanka (March 2023). Implementation

was planned in coordination with

selected CD providers in the region

(principally the World Bank, Asian

Development Bank, and European

Union (EU)), mostly in PFM and RA.

Despite some challenges, overall

execution of SARTTAC’s FY23

workplan improved compared to

recent years. As a share of the revised

workplan, more than 98 percent of

activities were completed in FY23

(Table 1) versus 80 percent in FY22.

The revised plan itself scaled back

activities by around one-third, mostly

TA. Delays in delivering planned CD

were mainly due to one-off factors, in

particular a lengthy hiring process for

new monetary and foreign exchange

(FX) operations (MONOPS) and nan-

cial sector supervision and regulation

(FSR) advisors in SARTTAC and work

reprioritization by some MCs, as they

reassessed their post-pandemic CD

needs. More diagnostic-related and

multi-faceted TA was incorporated

into the revised plan, some aligned

with program commitments under

IMF lending programs. On RA, Tax

Administration Diagnostic Assessment

Tool (TADAT) missions were added for

Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in place

of other activities, with SARTTAC’s

participation and funding playing an

important role in each. On PFM, a

large TA mission for Sri Lanka looked

at its scal responsibility framework in

lieu of other planned activities, as an

important component of strengthening

PFM under agreed program under-

standings with the IMF.

The intensity of resource use in FY23

can be summarized as follows:

• Regional activities (all training)

comprised the largest share of CD

spending in SARTTAC in FY23,

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC8 | SECTION II

TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF SARTTAC ACTIVITIES IN FY22 AND FY23

FY22 FY23

Execution Planned Execution

Annual

Actual

Original

Plan

Revised

Plan

Annual

Actual

Execution Rate

(percent of

revised plan)

SARTTAC Activities (in number of activities)

Technical Assistance 68 115 76 72 95

Regional Training 42 32 27 26 96

National Training 27 18 19 19 100

Meeting/Retreat/Other 3 0 0 3 n/a

Total 140 165 122 120 98

By Sector

Macroeconomic Analysis and Training (ICD) 19 25 18 19 106

Revenue Administration (RA) 20 27 21 23 110

Public Financial Management (PFM) 34 35 32 33 103

Government Finance Statistics/Public Sector Debt Statisticsz (GFS) 14 11 9 8 89

Real Sector Statistics (RSS) 23 32 27 25 93

Monetary and Foreign Exchange Operations (MONOPS) 11 17 9 6 67

Financial Sector Supervision and Regulation (FSR) 19 18 6 6 100

Total 140 165 122 120 98

Regional and national training are inclusive of webinars.

The annual workplan was revised and shared with SARTTAC’s Steering Committee during the FY23 interim update in February 2023.

TABLE 2: ACTUAL RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION BY COUNTRY AND SECTOR IN FY23

Share of

Total CD

Spending

(in percent)

Macroeconomics

Revenue

Administration

Public

Financial

Management

Government

Finance

Statistics

Real

Sector

Statistics

Monetary

and Foreign

Exchange

Operations

Financial

Sector

Supervision

and Regulation

Bangladesh 14.9 6.0 0.5 4.9 1.2 1.2 0.7 0.4

Bhutan 8.5 1.3 0.2 4.9 0.6 0.7 0.0 0.9

India 16.8 8.0 2.8 4.2 0.0 1.5 0.0 0.3

Maldives 9.5 0.7 4.6 1.4 0.6 0.9 0.0 1.3

Nepal 6.4 0.0 4.4 0.3 0.6 0.8 0.2 0.0

Sri Lanka 9.1 1.6 0.2 5.7 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.0

Regional 34.8 15.6 6.1 3.3 2.6 2.8 3.5 0.9

Share of Total CD Spending

(in percent)

33.2 18.9 24.8 6.2 8.3 4.9 3.7

The distribution by county is national training and technical assistance only.

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION II | 9

FIGURE 1: CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRIBUTION BY COUNTRY AND SECTOR IN FY23

B. By Sector

Planned

ICD,

RA,

PFM,

RSS,

GFS,

MONOPS,

FSR,

Actual

ICD,

RA,

PFM,

RSS,

GFS,

MONOPS,

FSR,

A. By Country

Planned

Bangladesh,

Bhutan,

India,

Maldives,

Nepal,

Sri Lanka,

Regional,

Actual

Bangladesh,

Bhutan,

India,

Maldives,

Nepal,

Sri Lanka,

Regional,

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC10 | SECTION II

accounting for an estimated

35percent. India and Bangladesh

were the largest recipients of this

support, but all MCs were generally

well represented in these activities.

Regional courses (26) were split

evenly between those led by the IMF

Institute for Capacity Development

(ICD) and other CDDs.

• Country-wise, India and Bangladesh

remained the largest recipients of

single-country CD (mostly training)

(Figure 1). They accounted for

roughly 17 and 15 percent of the total

CD spending, respectively, focused

on macroeconomics training and PFM

CD programs (Table 2). Lower shares

of support were provided to Bhutan,

Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka

(in the range of 6 to 9.5percent).

In the case of the latter two, as

well as Bangladesh, engagement

by spending and activities rose

in absolute and relative terms

compared to FY22, given SARTTAC

CD’s integration with IMF-supported

lending arrangements.

• Sector-wise, the distribution of

CD across programs, in relative

terms, remained broadly in line

with past delivery, in keeping

with demand across countries.

Morethan half of SARTTAC’s support

stayed concentrated in scal-

related areas—PFM, RA, and GFS/

PSDS. New activities added to the

workplan during the year helped

boost the execution rate of the

macroeconomics, RA and PFM CD

programs above 100 percent against

the revised workplan. SARTTAC’s

work on PFM was complemented by

a separate project on macro-scal

frameworks supported through

the IMF COVID-19 Crisis Capacity

Development Initiative (CCCDI),

which concluded in April 2023

(seeAnnex 2).

SARTTAC Course on Debt Sustainability Analysis for EXIM Bank of India (April 5-6, 2023)

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION II | 11

SECTION II

In this section, selective highlights

are provided of CD activities and

results in FY23. The achievement of

milestones by sector continued to be

tied closely to execution of workplans

(Table 3). Approximately 53 percent

of planned milestones were fully,

largely, or partially achieved in FY23,

as compared to 70 percent in FY22.

The lower achievement in FY23 was

primarily due to the slow progress on

RA reforms, which are being addressed

in the FY24 workplan (as discussed

later).

Learning gains and absolute

learning were generally stronger in

FY23, as measured by percentage

point increases in pre-and post-tests

scores and share of participants

scoring over 60 (out of 100) in the post-

course tests administered in much of

SARTTAC’s training (Figure 2).

The proportion of “Not Achieved”

milestones is not solely related to

the performance and progress from

SARTTAC-funded support for RA projects,

but also captures a broader picture of

advancement of countries’ tax reform

programs through overall IMF CD support

for these efforts, especially under larger

projects in MCs, which may be supported

through multiple funding vehicles.

TRAINING

Against the original and revised

workplan for FY23, SARTTAC deliv-

ered most programmed training,

underpinned by improvements in

planning and administration. In total,

45 regional and national training

activities were completed in FY23,

representing 98 percent of total activ-

ities in the revised plan. In summary,

highlights are as follows:

• Overall engagement: The total

number of participants and average

course size both declined in FY23

compared to FY22 because of

reorientation of SARTTAC’s workplan

towards TA (with fewer courses)

and the pandemic-related cap

on classroom size for in-person

training in the rst half of FY23

(Table4). Nonetheless, the number

of participants remained comparable

to the pre-pandemic period. By

FY23 Q4, the average number of

ofcials for in-person training in

SARTTAC reached 28—the same as

the pre-pandemic average in FY19

and compared to 21 in FY23 Q1.

At 33 percent, the share of women

in training was similar to FY22.

By country, the share of women

also remained in line with that

in FY22 except Maldives, where

it rose from half to two-thirds in

Mr. Phajo Dorjee

Deputy Governor,

Royal MonetaryAuthority, Bhutan

“For the last ve years,

engagement with SARTTAC

on capacity development and

technical assistance has been

benecial for us in terms of

nancial stability for the central

bank by enhancing risk-based

supervision and the monetary

policy framework. We look

forward to the next ve years of

engagement.”

HIGHLIGHTS BY SECTOR

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC12 | SECTION II

FIGURE 2: CHANGES IN LEARNING OUTCOMES BETWEEN FY19 AND FY23

(In percent)

100

Learning Gain

(percentage point change in

pre and post course quiz score)

Absolute Learning

(share of participants scoring

at least 60% in post-course quiz)

FY19–20 FY21–22 (virtual training) FY23 (in-person training)

TABLE 3: STATUS OF MILESTONES BY SECTOR AT END FY23

Area

Planned for FY23

or Older Milestones

Rated in FY23

Fully

Achieved

Largely

Achieved

Partially

Achieved

Not

Achieved/

Delayed

1. In number of milestones

Macroeconomic Analysis and Training 16 4 3 7 2

Revenue Administration 36 3 1 7 25

Public Financial Management 18 3 2 7 6

Government Finance Statistics/Public Sector Debt Statistics 10 0 2 1 7

Real Sector Statistics 16 4 2 3 7

Monetary and Foreign Exchange Operations 8 5 0 0 3

Financial Sector Supervision and Regulation 3 0 0 3 0

Total 107 19 10 28 50

2. In percent of total planned milestones

Macroeconomic Analysis and Training 100 25 19 44 13

Revenue Administration 100 8 3 19 69

Public Financial Management 100 17 11 39 33

Government Finance Statistics/Public Sector Debt Statistics 100 0 20 10 70

Real Sector Statistics 100 25 13 19 44

Monetary and Foreign Exchange Operations 100 63 0 0 38

Financial Sector Supervision and Regulation 100 0 0 100 0

Total 100 18 9 26 47

Total (Since Inception) 100 43 12 14 31

Includes milestones for projects being fully or partially funded by SARTTAC.

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION II | 13

SARTTAC Course on Central Bank Digital Currencies (December 5-9, 2022)

TABLE 4: PARTICIPANTS BY COUNTRY AND GENDER IN FY22 AND FY23

SARTTAC Training Participants (excluding webinars)

Country

FY22 FY23

Number of

Participants

of total

(inpercent)

Of which

women

(inpercent)

Number of

Participants

of total

(inpercent)

Of which

women

(inpercent)

Participant

Training

Days

Share of

Participant

Training Days

(in percent)

Bangladesh 318 20 28 243 21 29 1,085 20

Bhutan 180 11 50 82 7 51 396 7

India 751 48 26 555 48 27 2,386 45

Maldives 91 6 52 62 5 65 245 5

Nepal 100 6 24 117 10 24 609 11

Sri Lanka 138 9 48 99 9 48 589 11

Total 1,578 100 33 1,158 100 33 5,310 100

Number of Courses 51 42

Participants per course 30.9 27.6

SARTTAC Webinar Participants in FY23

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total

Number of Participants

42 0 0 157 199

Number of Webinars 1 0 0 2 3

Registered participants only; actual number is likely larger because of shared connections.

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC14 | SECTION II

Participants in a SARTTAC Government Finance Statistics technical assistance mission to Bangladesh

(September 18-22, 2022)

FY23. Webinars,which became a

key delivery vehicle for SARTTAC

and other IMF regional capacity

development centers (RCDCs) in

FY21 and FY22, were less prominent

during FY23 due to resumption of

normal TA and training delivery and

lower demand for such from MCs.

Nevertheless, webinars on topics

such as measuring human capital and

household unpaid services under

SARTTAC’s real sector statistics (RSS)

CD program were well received.

• India: The bulk of national training

continued to be focused on India

given better established cohorts,

with SARTTAC doing more in general

to integrate with agencies’ learning

and development programs. In all,

48 percent of all training participants

came from India in FY23. Two rst-

ever training activities were organized

at the Center—a macroeconomics

module for the Reserve Bank of

India (RBI) and debt sustainability

analysis workshop for the Export-

Import (EXIM) Bank of India. In

addition, SARTTAC continued to

provide macroeconomic training

to cohorts in the Indian Economic

Service (IES) and India Administrative

Service (IAS), including for the latter

through the Lal Bahadur Shastri

National Academy of Administration

(LBSNAA). In India, training extended

to the state level, with Odisha hosting

a sub-regional workshop on scal risk

management (FRM) with a focus on

public sector undertakings (PSUs).

• Other countries: Other national

training activities took place outside

India, some tied to TA missions.

Events were held for Bangladesh’s

Ministry of Finance (MOF) (cash

management, the treasury single

account (TSA), and GFS), Bhutan’s

MOF (cash management and the

TSA), and the Central Bank of

SriLanka (CBSL) (monetary policy

operations implementation). For

Bangladesh, a learning program

resumed with its Institute of Public

Finance (IPF), wherein mid- to

senior-level line ministry ofcials

received focused training on

strengthening PFM. This training,

along with a strong contingent in

regional courses, boosted the share

of participants from Bangladesh in

SARTTAC to 17 percent in FY23—the

second largest after India.

• Regionally: Topical regional courses

and workshops were conducted

for a wide-ranging audience. For

macroeconomic training, a diverse

set of courses was undertaken by

ICD, from staples (Macroeconomic

Diagnostics and Fiscal Policy

Analysis) to advanced econometric

techniques for economic analysis

(Macro-Econometric Forecasting and

Analysis) (Table 5). As for non-ICD

training, short courses continued

to be offered on monetary policy

implementation under SARTTAC’s

MONOPS program, jointly with the

IMF Capacity Development Ofce

in Thailand (CDOT), covering such

topics as reserve management,

the reference exchange rate, and

FX operations (Table 6). First-time

training was also done under the GFS

CD program on the Classication

of the Functions of Government

(Box 2) and on sectoral accounts

and balance sheets through the

RSS CD program, together with the

IMF Statistics Department (STA). In

addition, for both ICD and non-ICD

courses, more training was done on

transformational areas (see below).

• Learning gains: For a number

of courses, including all for ICD,

learning gains, as measured by

pre-course and post-course quizzes,

improved from recent years, when all

training was delivered virtually with

the attendant distractions. Focusing

on the ICD courses, average

learning gains were 19 percent in

FY23 (i.e., the percentage change

in average pre- versus post-course

quiz scores), as compared with

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION II | 15

TABLE 5: ICD TRAINING IN FY23

Course Title Start Date End Date Target Audience

Overall

Evaluation

Rating

(outof 5)

Number of

Participants

Phase II Training (LBSNAA)-

Selected Macroeconomic Issues

June 16, 2022 June 17, 2022 India (Indian Administrative

Service (IAS))

n/a n/a

Fiscal Policy Analysis July 11, 2022 July 22, 2022 All member countries 4.7 22

Macroeconometric Forecasting

and Analysis

September 19, 2022 September 30, 2022 All member countries 4.9 23

Foundation Training -

Macroeconomic Module (LBSNAA)

October 10, 2022 October 14, 2022 India (Indian Civil Servants) n/a n/a

Selected Macroeconomic Issues

for Mid-Career Ofcers

October 31, 2022 November 11, 2022 India (Indian Economic

Service (IES))

4.1 19

Selected Macroeconomic Issues

for Mid-Career Ofcers

November 14, 2022 November 25, 2022 India (IES) 4.1 13

Central Bank Digital Currencies December 5, 2022 December 9, 2022 All member countries 4.7 35

Macroeconomics Module for

General Inductees

February 6, 2023 February 10, 2023 India (Reserve Bank of India) 4.5 25

Debt Sustainability April 5, 2023 April 6, 2023 India (EXIM Bank of India) 4.4 28

Macroeconomic Diagnostics April 10, 2023 April 21, 2023 All member countries 4.5 31

Financial Development and

Financial Inclusion

April 10, 2023 April 20, 2023 All member countries 4.4 20

Phase I Training (LBSNAA)-

Selected Macroeconomic Issues

January 16, 2023 January 20, 2023 India (IAS) n/a 184

Macroeconomics of Climate

Change

April 24, 2023 May 4, 2023 All member countries 4.6 32

Weighted average 4.5

Number of participants are listed only for courses registered in the IMF’s Participant and Applicant Tracking System (PATS).

16 percent in the previous year.

These learning gains are slightly

lower than those observedprior

to the pandemic, but mainly

because pre-course quiz scores

were higher post (49percent) than

pre (44 percent) pandemic,which

is likely due to a combination

offactors includingmore careful

For some ICD virtual courses, material

had to be modied/reduced to t the time

available under this delivery modality.

Therefore, the direct comparability of

in-person versus virtual learning gains

should take account of this factor.

screeningrecently of course

applicants and greater focus

oncohort training by SARTTAC.

• Evaluation surveys: In nearly

90percent of all regional and

national courses and workshops,

end-of-training evaluation surveys

were administered by SARTTAC.

On a scale of 1 to 5, the range of

average per training evaluations

scores were 4.1 to 4.9, with a

median of 4.6 (see Table 5 and 6).

Within the surveys, highest scoring

was generally in the areas of RA,

PFMand GFS.

Training continued to be used in FY23

to address transformational areas of

interest by the IMF in CD and surveil-

lance. Highlights are as follows:

• A new regional ICD course was

done on macroeconomics of

climate change, which also included

participants from government think

tanks, ministries of environment,

and national disaster risk reduction

and management authorities. Other

training events with a climate focus

included regional workshops on

green PFM and climate change

jointly organized with CDOT

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC16 | SECTION II

TABLE 6: NON-ICD TRAINING IN FY23

Title Start Date End Date Target Audience

Overall

Evaluation

Rating

(out of 5)

Number of

Participants

Courses and Workshops

Revenue Administration

Compliance Risk Management June 20, 2022 June 24, 2022 India (Central Board of

Direct Taxes)

4.8 21

Dispute Resolution and Rulings July 11, 2022 July 13, 2022 India (CBDT) 4.5 33

TADAT Accreditation July 25, 2022 July 29, 2022 India (CBDT) 4.9 21

Compliance Risk Management September 12, 2022 September 16, 2022 All member countries 4.8 25

Risk Based Audit Techniques October 10, 2022 October 14, 2022 India (CBDT) 4.7 24

Risk Based Audit Techniques October 17, 2022 October 21, 2022 All member countries 4.5 29

TADAT Accreditation December 12, 2022 December 16, 2022 All member countries 4.8 36

Collections and Arrears Management February 27, 2023 March 3, 2023 All member countries 4.7 33

Taxpayer Registration April 24, 2023 April 28, 2023 All member countries 4.6 34

Public Financial Management

Strengthening Public Financial

Management (PFM) Framework

July 12, 2022 July 16, 2022 Bangladesh (Institute of

Public Finance (IPF))

4.7 25

e-Government and Digitalization of

PFM: The Changing Topography (with

the IMF Capacity Development Ofce in

Thailand (CDOT))

September 5, 2022 September 9, 2022 All member countries 4.6 12

Strengthening PFM Framework October 10, 2022 October 14, 2022 Bangladesh (IPF) 4.8 27

Climate Challenge and Green Budgeting

(with CDOT)

October 17, 2022 October 20, 2022 All member countries 4.8 17

Strengthening PFM Framework December 5, 2022 December 9, 2022 Bangladesh (IPF) 4.7 28

Managing Fiscal Risks - Focus on Public

Sector Undertakings

January 9, 2023 January 13, 2023 India (States) 4.8 25

Effective Management of Accelerated

Investment in Public Infrastructure

February 13, 2023 February 17, 2023 All member countries 4.4 25

Strengthening Cash Management and

Treasury Single Account

April 3, 2023 April 7, 2023 Bhutan n/a 25

Strengthening Cash Management and

Treasury Single Account

April 9, 2023 April 13, 2023 Bangladesh n/a

Government Finance Statistics/Public Sector Debt Statistics

Compiling Public Sector Balance Sheets June 27, 2022 July 1, 2022 All member countries 4.7 16

Classication of Functions of Government February 6, 2023 February 10, 2023 All member countries 4.5 23

Intermediate Course on Government

Finance Statistics

March 19, 2023 March 23, 2023 Bangladesh 4.7 25

Real Sector Statistics

Sectoral Accounts and Balance Sheets August 29, 2022 September 2, 2022 All member countries 4.5 24

Introduction to Climate Change

Indicators for Economic Analysis and

Policy Formulation

October 31, 2022 November 3, 2022 All member countries 4.4 34

National Accounts Statistics January 16, 2023 January 20, 2023 All member countries 4.8 33

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION II | 17

Title Start Date End Date Target Audience

Overall

Evaluation

Rating

(out of 5)

Number of

Participants

Monetary and Foreign Exchange Operations

Monetary Policy Implementation June 6, 2022 June 16, 2022 Sri Lanka (CBSL) 4.4 16

Monetary Policy Implementation -

Reserve Requirement (with CDOT)

July 11, 2022 July 14, 2022 All member countries 4.4 11

Central Bank Operations in a World of

Digital Money

September 26, 2022 September 30, 2022 All member countries 4.6 17

Monetary Policy Implementation -

Reference Exchange Rate (with CDOT)

October 18, 2022 October 20, 2022 All member countries 4.1 17

Monetary Policy Implementation - Foreign

Exchange Operations (with CDOT)

January 10, 2023 January 12, 2023 All member countries 4.4 14

Macro-Fiscal

Macro-Fiscal Analysis and Quantitative

Methods

June 13, 2022 June 17, 2022 All member countries 4.4 20

Developing a Medium-Term Fiscal

Framework Tool

July 25, 2022 July 29, 2022 All member countries 4.9 21

Webinars

Public Financial Management

Budget Process Tools to Reduce or

Redirect Public Spending

March 28, 2023 March 28, 2023 All member countries  95

Real Sector Statistics

Valuing Household Unpaid Services June 23, 2022 June 23, 2022 All member countries  42

Measuring Human Capital April 12, 2023 April 12, 2023 All member countries  62

Non-SARTTAC Training in FY23 (hosted by SARTTAC)

Courses and Workshops

IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department

Macroprudential Stress Testing September 5, 2022 September 9, 2022 Bangladesh  20

IMF Communications Department (COM)

Economic and Financial Reporting

Training for Journalists in South Asia

February 19, 2023 February 21, 2023 All member countries  15

Webinars

IMF Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD)

International Corporate Tax Issues February 27, 2023 February 27, 2023 All member countries  76

IMF Asia and Pacic Department (APD)

Webinar on the Unfolding Impact of the

War in Ukraine on Asia

May 4, 2022 May 4, 2022 All member countries  81

The Payment System Landscape in

India (with the IMF - Singapore Regional

Training Institute)

June 2, 2022 June 2, 2022 All member countries  n/a

In courses and webinars with CDOT and STI, the number of participants excludes participants from outside the SARTTAC

member countries.

Macro-scal courses were organized by SARTTAC and funded by the IMF COVID-19 Crisis Capacity Development Initiative.

TABLE 6: (CONTINUED)

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC18 | SECTION II

BOX 2: FOCUSING ON THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD COFOG DATA IN THE REGION

THE CHALLENGE

In recent years, most SARTTAC

member countries have become more

procient at producing government

nance statistics (GFS) data that

are compliant with the Government

Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM

2014) through training and tech-

nical assistance (TA) provided by

the Center. However, further effort

is needed to advance work related

to reporting the Classication of the

Functions of Government (COFOG)

data. Typically, government budgets

are set at a department level that

are only broadly correlated to socio-

economic spending. For example,

while a ministry of education may

account for the majority of govern-

ment expenditure in this area, it is

common for other ministries to also

incur spending on education. Because

ministries have different remits across

countries, COFOG-produced data

allow economic analysis of spending on

an internationally comparable basis.

THE RESPONSE

SARTTAC hosted a regional course

on the compilation of COFOG data

in February 2023 focused on the

category “Environment” and the

relationship with the climate change

indicators being developed by the

IMF Statistics Department (STA).

This course was the rst dedicated

COFOG trained ever delivered by

STA, as the topic is normally covered

as part of broader GFS training. The

course aimed at raising awareness

about COFOG for GFS compilers

in the region and for statisticians in

related areas, particularly elements

of the national accounts. The course

provided an overview of the GFSM2014

framework and then showed the

linkages with COFOG via expenditure,

explaining why COFOG is seen as an

increasingly relevant tool for interna-

tional comparison purposes.

THE RESULTS

Course participants actively engaged

during the week explaining how

the COFOG data were compiled in

their own countries. Several coun-

tries realized that assumptions they

had been making about how to score

certain aspects of their expenditure

data were not aligned with GFSM

2014 recording requirements. One

country had been scoring their public

sector compensation of employees

under general public services rather

than attributing it to the appropriate

function. Country ofcials have subse-

quently reached out to SARTTAC about

ways to further improve their recording

of COFOG data.

(Left) Regional workshop on Digitalization of PFM: The Changing Topography, in Siem Reap, Cambodia (September 5-9,

2022), and (Right) Mr. Rajat K. Mishra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Finance (India) delivering the keynote address (right).

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION II | 19

Ms. Rehana Perven

Additional Secretary,

Finance Division, Ministry of

Finance, Bangladesh

“The Institute of Public Finance

has been pursuing to build a

pool of ofcials competent in

public nancial management

across the government of

Bangladesh. To this end,

we acknowledge continued

support from SARTTAC through

the ’Strengthening the PFM

Framework’ course in connection

with the IPF’s Financial

Economics and Economic

Management program.”

BOX 3: EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL MONEY ON MONETARY

POLICY IMPLEMENTATION

THE CHALLENGE

In recent years, the world has witnessed a signicant shift in the way it

perceives and uses money. Among the transformative developments in

this realm is the advent of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and

bank and nonbank-issued stablecoins. Although only a few countries

have launched CBDCs, more than 100 central banks are now actively

exploring the potential benets and implications of digitalizing their

national currencies. Amid unprecedented global interest in digital

money, demand for capacity development in this area from central

banks has increased sharply. One area of particular interest of central

banks is investigating the implications of digital money on monetary

policy transmission and implementation.

THE RESPONSE

SARTTAC and MCM conducted a newly designed ve-day course on

Central Bank Operations and Digital Money in September 2022. The

course, including experts from the Central Bank of Peru and Reserve

Bank of India, provided an opportunity to share experiences and

insights on the introduction of CBDCs and bank- and nonbank-issued

stablecoins into an economy. Training covered the costs and risks

associated with the issuance of digital money, examining its impact

on monetary policy transmission and on nancial inclusion, integ-

rity, and stability. The course also considered the potential inuence

of digital money on the interest rate channel and its implications for

monetary policy and central bank operations. Special focus was given

to examining the challenges and risks associated with monetary policy

implementation, including the central bank’s capacity for liquidity fore-

casting and conduct of effective open market operations, which are vital

for maintaining the efcacy of monetary policy regimes.

THE RESULTS

The course provided participants with a foundation in CBDCs and

stablecoins and assessed the implications of their adoption from the

perspective of central banks. It contributed to a better understanding

of recent innovations in the digital money landscape and the implica-

tions of such developments for the central bank’s balance sheet, central

bank operations, public and private money creation, and the interest

rate channel. Participants were able to deepen their knowledge of

global trends in currency in circulation (CIC) and how they may affect

central bank operations, such as seigniorage, the transactional velocity

of digital money, and sterilization, including parallels between CIC,

CBDCs, and dollarization.

and on using climate change

indicators for economic analysis

and policy formulation organized

in collaboration with STA and

done virtually (with ofcials also

joining from Cambodia, Mongolia,

Philippines, and Vietnam).

• Regional courses on digital

currencies were delivered to cater to

growing interest in the topic. The rst

organized with the IMF Monetary and

Capital Markets Department (MCM)

dealt with the impact of central bank

digital currencies (CBDCs) on central

bank operations and balance sheets

and interest rates (with ofcials

from Lao P.D.R. and Vietnam also

joining) (Box 3), while the second

was an ICD-led course that looked

at the design and features of CBDCs

and their benets and risks to the

nancial system.

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC20 | SECTION II

Regional course on Financial Development and Financial Inclusion (April 10–20, 2023)

• A regional course on nancial

development and nancial inclusion

was also done; while not a new one for

SARTTAC, greater focus this time was

placed on the role of ntech in driving

nancial inclusion, which has been an

important development in SARTTAC

MCs. Finally, building on last year’s

training on PFM and digitalization,

a follow-up regional workshop was

organized by the IMF Fiscal Affairs

Department (FAD), SARTTAC, and

CDOT in Cambodia considered good

regional practices in successfully

implementing digitalization strategies,

drawing heavily on India’s experience.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Technical assistance delivery was

steady throughout FY23 but overall

was less than originally planned given

actual uptake by MCs and available

delivery resources in certain sectors.

Around 95 percent of the revised

TA program was achieved, with

implementation the strongest in India

and Bangladesh and in the areas of RA,

PFM, GFS and RSS. Country-wise, overall

delivery fell moderately short of expec-

tations in Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka,

notably against original plans, mainly

under the macroeconomics, MONOPS

and FSR CD programs (Table7). Talking

a closer look at sectors, the RA TA

program was anchored by the inclu-

sion of new activities related to TADAT

missions in Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri

Lanka, which carried out this exercise,

including pre-assessment workshops,

and in Maldives, which undertook

post-assessment activities following its

TADAT in FY22. On PFM, the focus was

on strengthening policy frameworks

around cash and commitment controls

and scal accounting, reporting, and

risk management. Under the two

statistics programs, SARTTAC continued

to work with agencies on expanding

coverage of GFS to general govern-

ment and improving methodologies for

producing price and national accounts

statistics and higher frequency data

and indicators.

Focusing on countries, highlights are

as follows:

• In India, ongoing PFM projects

in Odisha and Tamil Nadu were

implemented largely as planned,

moving forward in conjunction with

work on strengthening medium-term

scal frameworks through resources

provided to SARTTAC under the

CCCDI.

Early success was met in

Odisha in strengthening commitment

control and cash management.

Focusing nationally, a new project on

updating the weights in the consumer

price index (CPI) was initiated in FY23.

Selective funding was also used here to

support an IMF headquarters led Public

Investment Management Assessment

(PIMA) for Tamil Nadu—one of the few PIMAs

done by the IMF at the sub-national level.

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION II | 21

TABLE 7: TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE MISSIONS BY COUNTRY AND SECTOR IN FY23

(In number of activities)

By Country



Planned Execution

Original

Plan

Revised

Plan

Annual

Actual

Execution Rate

(in percent of revised plan)

Bangladesh 21 14 15 107

Bhutan 20 14 13 93

India 16 14 13 93

Maldives 26 15 13 87

Nepal 16 9 9 100

Sri Lanka 16 10 9 90

Total 115 76 72 95

By Sector

Macroeconomic Analysis and Training 10 5 6 120

Revenue Administration 17 12 13 108

Public Financial Management 27 22 21 95

Government Finance Statistics/Public Sector Debt Statistics 9 7 6 86

Real Sector Statistics 27 22 20 91

Monetary and Foreign Exchange Operations 11 3 1 33

Financial Sector Supervision and Regulation 14 5 5 100

Total 115 76 72 95

SARTTAC PFM mission team with the Director General of the Sri Lanka Ministry of Finance’s (MOF) Department of Fiscal

Policy (Dr. Kapila Senanayake) and the IMF Resident Representative for Sri Lanka (Mr. Tubagus Feridhanusetyawan), joined

by ofcials in the MOF’s Macro-Fiscal Unit (October 3-7, 2022)

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC22 | SECTION II

BOX 4: MODERNIZING THE CHART OF ACCOUNTS IN BHUTAN

THE CHALLENGE

Bhutan is transitioning to a modern

public nancial management (PFM)

framework to support efciency in

the use of public resources and to

promote transparency and account-

ability. The country has recently

undertaken signicant government

sector reforms as well as invested in

information technology to improve

key areas of governance. However,

the pace and scope of these efforts

has been impeded by an absence of

a robust scal reporting mechanism

anchored in a modern Unied Chart of

Accounts (UCoA). Recent years have

also seen signicant attrition in the

civil service, presenting a challenge

especially in terms of loss of institu-

tional memory.

THE RESPONSE

The Ministry of Finance sought

SARTTAC’s support to modernize

the CoA and align it with interna-

tional standards. An initial technical

assistance (TA) mission in May 2022

recommended establishment of a

cross-functional working group (WG)

to bring different parties together for

this reform. SARTTAC’s support initially

focused on sharing good practice

with the WG in a practical way and

then in supporting the WG in the

development of a Concept Note, which

clearly articulated the importance of

a UCoA and how it ensures integrity

of reporting across all major elements

of the PFM system. Work commenced

on redeveloping each segment of

the UCoA after the Finance Secretary

had endorsed the Concept Note and

strategy. Subsequent TA missions and

a training workshop provided detailed

guidance, templates, and a process for

developing each segment.

THE RESULTS

With TA from SARTTAC, the author-

ities have developed a new eight

segment hierarchical UCoA structure,

which aligns with Government Finance

Statistics Manual 2014 and supports

all modern reporting requirements for

government, including cross-cutting

reporting through a specic segment

designed for reporting on gender,

climate, and other emerging reporting

requirements. The authorities look to

leverage the UCoA and modern tech-

nology for efcient decision-making

and to report on policy performance

and outcomes. Over time, the WG

has developed an appreciation of the

advantages of a modern, well- designed

UCoA, which should serve the country

well and ensure the integrity of

scal data, reports and accounting

information.

• For Bangladesh, TA was provided to

the MOF on developing a medium-

term macroeconomic framework

(MTMF), reinvigorating an ICD-led

project that had made limited

progress during the pandemic, with

clear deliverables and timelines set

out in an action plan for the next

2-3 years. Progress was also made

under an RSS project in updating

CPI weights and setting out a

quarterly GDP program. Support was

initiated at Bangladesh Bank(BB)

on developing a model-based

Forecasting and Policy Analysis

System (FPAS) through ICD TA

and continued in modernizing the

operational framework by moving

from a monetary aggregate to

an interest rate target under a

MONOPS project.

• In Bhutan, key RA reform priorities

were identied through a TADAT

assessment, while other TA carried

on in a range of areas, including

development of a unied chart

of accounts (UCoA) through an

ongoing PFM project (Box 4),

formulating a monthly indicator of

economic growth (MIEG)) through

RSS support, and strengthening risk-

based nancial supervision of banks

through continued FSR TA.

• With Maldives, multiple RA TA

missions were undertaken on

broadening the revenue base,

along with PFM missions on

SARTTAC PFM Advisor

(Mr. Raju Sharan) meeting with Acting

Finance Secretary (Ms. Leki Wangmo)

at Bhutan’s Ministry of Finance

(November 2022)

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION II | 23

improving budget communication

and reporting, ICD-led support

on developing a macroeconomic

framework (also funded under the

Japan Administered Account for

Selected IMF Activities (JSA)), RSS

work on updating the CPI, and

additional FSR TA on strengthening

banking and insurance supervision.

• For Nepal, as a complement

to TADAT-related work, RA TA

was provided on developing a

domestic revenue plan; in addition,

SARTTAC support was provided

on establishing a scal risk register

through PFM CD and on compiling

GDP under a RSS project.

• In Sri Lanka, in addition to RA LTX

support for the TADAT, TA focused

on developing an FPAS at the CBSL

(under an ICD-led project), a scal

responsibility framework with the

MOF (as part of PFM engagement),

and the institutional sector accounts

(through a new RSS project).

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Other activities in SARTTAC in FY23

gave it an opportunity to showcase

the Center’s work in the region. In

September 2022, Kristalina Georgieva

became the rst IMF Managing

Director to come to SARTTAC during

an ofcial visit to India. She empha-

sized the importance of CD as a pillar

of IMF engagement with its MCs, and

in this context urged India’s support

for Phase II of SARTTAC’s funding

and operations. In her meeting with

staff, the Managing Director shared

her views on some of the transforma-

tional areas of IMF work, particularly

digitalization, urging staff to leverage

India’s leadership in this area to help

improve the efcacy of tax and expen-

diture policies, payment systems,

and statistical analysis in other MCs.

In January 2023, Deputy Managing

Director Antoinette Sayeh, on a rst

trip to India, also visited SARTTAC and

met with staff, discussing prepara-

tions for Phase II in SARTTAC. While in

India, she joined a regional conference

and book launch organized by APD

and SARTTAC on a new publication

by the IMF on South Asia’s growth

experience. Joining her at the head

of the conference was the Governor

of the RBI, who delivered a keynote

address, with central bank governors

from Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka;

the State Minister for Finance from

Maldives, and other senior ofcials

and opinion makers in South Asia also

participating, also providing SARTTAC

an opportunity to liaise with key stake-

holders on activities and plans. Other

noteworthy events included hosting

a hybrid APD regional economic

outlook event in May 2022, bringing

in senior commentators from Bhutan,

Nepal, and Sri Lanka, and a South Asia

nancial journalists’ workshop with the

IMF Communications Department and

the Thompson Reuters Foundation

(United Kingdom) in February 2023.

Ms. Nada Choueiri

Assistant Director, Division Chief,

and Mission Chief for India, IMF

Asia and Pacic Department

“SARTTAC has been an

instrumental partner for capacity

development at the sub-national

level in India. Its support for

difcult scal reforms has

helped partner states markedly

improve their scal positions

and modernize public nancial

management, while maintaining

strong growth and poverty

reduction, thus providing a good

example of scal governance to

other states in India.”

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC24 | SECTION II

Top: IMF Deputy Managing Director Antoinette Sayeh’s visit to SARTTAC and meeting with its staff (January 6, 2023)

Bottom: Scenes from a conference and book launch on South Asia’s Path to Resilient Growth in New Delhi India

and organized by SARTTAC (January 6, 2023)

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION II | 25

SECTION III

WORKPLAN FOR FY24

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION III | 27

SECTION III

OVERVIEW

The FY24 workplan consolidates

gains in CD in Phase I of SARTTAC’s

operations, sets the stage for the next

phase, and addresses persistent and

emerging challenges facing MCs. It

was formulated factoring in recent

trends in TA delivery across sectors

and countries. Guidance and support

from APD, notably from IMF resident

representative ofces covering the

region, will continue to be vital to

the sound execution of the workplan,

including these ofces’ role in helping

maintain a continuous dialogue with

local stakeholders. Implementation

will be done in coordination with

selected CD providers in the region

(principally the World Bank, Asian

Development Bank, and EU), notably

in the area of PFM, to ensure available

resources are utilized efciently and

avoid duplication of CD efforts. The

workplan is also complementary to new

and sizeable IMF CD support in South

Asia provided through other funding

vehicles, in particular support from

the JSA (Japan), which is concentrated

on RA and PFM, in particular for Sri

Lanka, including through new resident

advisors managed by IMF headquar-

ters (HQ) in these areas. Through the

JSA, support is also being provided

to place a debt management advisor

in SARTTAC starting in FY24 under

MCM’s supervision. Under this CD

program, initial focus is expected to

be placed on developing strategies

on debt issuance, management, and

sustainability in Sri Lanka and Maldives

(and Lao PDR).

The workplan builds a more than

40percent increase in the number

of activities compared to execution

in FY23, with TA expected to remain

the largest component of delivery

(Table 8). The plan has been devel-

oped through the IMF’s Capacity

Development Management and

Administration Program (CDMAP),

which continues to add new features

to aid better planning and oversight

of Fund CD. Technical assistance

delivery itself is programmed to

increase by 50 percent, with some

of this growth attributable to post-

poned activities in FY23, while other

intensication is around addressing

post-pandemic exigencies. Resources

for TA will continue to be concen-

trated on supporting MCs in building

sounder scal and monetary policy

frameworks, mobilizing revenue and

strengthening PFM, buttressing nan-

cial stability, and improving statistical

policy and reporting, supported by

the integration of TA and training to

strengthen absorptive capacity of CD

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC28 | SECTION III

A workshop on Economic and Financial Reporting for South Asia Journalists led by the Thomson Reuters Foundation,

organized by the IMF Communication Department, and hosted by SARTTAC (February 19-21, 2023).

recipient agencies. SARTTAC’s annual

training plan (Annex 3) is roughly

equally divided between regional and

national courses—that latter building

on SARTTAC’s relationships with

individual cohorts, specically in India

and Bangladesh. Training topics reect

regional demand and are aligned with

TA programs—both ICD and non-ICD

training. The plan also factors in

transformational areas of support, as

SARTTAC deepens its work in areas

such as climate, gender, and digitaliza-

tion—both govtech and ntech.

In FY24, CD delivery resources in

SARTTAC will be balanced more to

program countries compared to last

year (Table 9). Slightly more than

one-third of single country CD delivery

resources are focused on Bangladesh,

Nepal, and Sri Lanka, compared to an

outturn of 30 percent in FY23. India

will continue to receive the largest

share of country-dedicated support

(17 percent), while regional activities

will take the most overall (36 percent).

These allocations are predicated on

a sizeable boost in the uptake of TA,

notably in the program countries,

which may be subject to even greater

implementation challenges than

non-program countries (as discussed

below), despite the importance of

this support.

Timely action on the workplan by

both SARTTAC and recipient agencies

should help MCs address vulnera-

bilities due to slowdown in growth

globally and after-effects of the

pandemic. As observed in FY23, the

fallout from war in Ukraine on food and

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION III | 29

TABLE 8: SUMMARY OF SARTTAC ACTIVITIES IN FY24

FY23 FY24

Execution Planned

Annual Annual

SARTTAC Activities (in number of activities)

Technical Assistance

72 108

Regional Training

26 32

National Training

19 27

Meeting/ Retreat/ Other

3 2

Total

120 169

By Sector 

Macroeconomic Analysis and Training

19 30

Revenue Administration

23 23

Public Financial Management

33 46

Government Finance Statistics/ Public Sector Debt Statistics

8 11

Real Sector Statistics

25 24

Monetary and Foreign Exchange Operations

6 14

Financial Sector Supervision and Regulation

6 20

Other Sectors

0 1

Total

120 169

Includes 6 ativities for India that are subject to approval from Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, India

TABLE 9: PLANNED RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION BY COUNTRY AND SECTOR IN FY24 PHASE I

(In percent of total CD Budget, unless otherwise indicated)

 Total

Macro-

economics

Revenue

Administration

Public

Financial

Management

Government

Finance

Statistics

Real Sector

Statistics

Monetary

and Foreign

Exchange

Operations

Financial

Sector

Supervision

and

Regulation

Bangladesh

12.8 4.4 1.6 4.3 0.3 0.7 1.1 0.5

Bhutan

4.8 0.0 0.4 1.8 0.2 1.2 0.4 0.8

India

16.8 5.4 2.5 6.5 0.5 0.6 0.0 1.3

Maldives

7.7 0.0 3.4 1.1 0.5 0.7 1.2 0.8

Nepal

10.7 3.0 3.1 1.3 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.4

Sri Lanka

10.7 3.3 0.3 3.3 0.2 0.7 2.2 0.7

Regional

36.5 18.0 2.6 4.5 2.9 3.6 2.2 2.7

Total

 34.0 13.8 22.9 5.0 8.0 8.0 8.2

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC30 | SECTION III

TABLE 10: SUMMARY LOG FRAME FOR FY24

 Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Sri Lanka Regional

Macroeconomics

Better macroeconomic forecasting and analysis feeds into

economic policy process

● ●

    

Building FPAS capacity     

●



Develop capacity in macroeconomic forecasting and policy

analysis to support policy decision making and communications -

MEC

●

     

Develop capacity in macroeconomic forecasting and policy

analysis to support policy decision making and communications

- MFR

●

  

● ●



Developing modeling and analytical capacity, establishing

processes and organizational structure of FPAS, and incorporating

it into the decision-making process at the CB - FPS

●

   

●



Financial Programming and Policies (FPP) - Better macroeconomic

forecasting and policy analysis at the Ministry or at governmental

agency/agencies feeds into the economic policy process

● ●

    

Incorporating FPAS into the decision-making process     

●



Participants effectively acquire knowledge and skills taught in the

Exchange Rate Policy (ERP) course and use them subsequently on

the job or in their interaction with the Fund. - ERP

     

●

Participants effectively acquire knowledge and skills taught in the

Financial Development and Financial Inclusion (FDFI) course and

use them subsequently on the job or in their interaction with the

Fund. - FDF

     

●

Participants effectively acquire knowledge and skills taught in the

Fiscal Sustainability (FS) course and use them subsequently on the

job or in their interaction with the Fund. - FSU

     

●

Participants effectively acquire knowledge and skills taught in the

Inclusive Growth (IG) course and use them subsequently on the

job or in their interaction with the Fund. - IGR

     

●

Participants effectively acquire knowledge and skills taught in the

Macroeconometric Forecasting and Analysis (MFA) course and

use them subsequently on the job or in their interaction with the

Fund. - MFA

     

●

oil prices, sluggish economic growth,

and tighter global nancial condi-

tions have widened macroeconomic

imbalances in some countries and

put strain on both public and private

sector balance sheets, exemplied by

rising debt levels and debt servicing

costs. In response, the FY24 workplan

places renewed focus on TA on PFM

and macroeconomic frameworks.

Continued sizable TA is also expected

to be implemented on RA, MONOPS

and FSR, in keeping with the need for

robust policy frameworks to better

manage current conditions and build

economic resiliency. More timely,

broader based, and higher frequency

macroeconomic data, as encapsu-

lated in RSS and GFS CD programs

in SARTTAC, should aid analysis and

decision making. Capacity develop-

ment log frames reect these priorities

(Table 10). At the same time, trans-

formational areas related to climate

change, use of digitalization, and

gender and inclusiveness are a part

of the plan, mostly in training as these

areas become more integrated into

IMF CD.

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION III | 31

 Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Sri Lanka Regional

Participants effectively acquire knowledge and skills taught in

the Macroeconomic Diagnostics (MDS) course and use them

subsequently on the job or in their interaction with the Fund. - MDS

 

●

   

Participants effectively acquire knowledge and skills taught in the

Monetary Policy (MP) course and use them subsequently on the

job or in their interaction with the Fund. - MOP

 

●

  

●

Stronger analytical skills and better macroeconomic forecasting

and policy analysis at the Ministry / central bank / or other

governmental agency(ies) feeds into the economic policymaking

process - MFP



●

  

●



Revenue Administration

Improved tax and non-tax revenue policy (SDG 17.1) - TXP 

●

    

Strengthen the legal frameworks in: Financial Institutions,

Markets, Fiscal and Tax Systems - FFL



●

    

Strengthened core tax administration functions 

●



● ● ● ●

Strengthened revenue administration management and

governance arrangements

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Public Financial Management

Comprehensive, credible, and policy-based budget preparation - BPR

● ● ● ●

  

Improved Asset and Liability Management

●



●



●

 

Improved budget execution and control - BEX

●



●

 

●



Improved coverage and quality of scal reporting - FRP 

●



●

  

Improved PFM laws and effective institutions - BLF

●



● ●

 

●

Improved public investment management - PIM  

●



●



●

Strengthened identication, monitoring, and management of

scal risks - FRK

 

● ● ●

 

Government Finance Statistics/ Public Sector Debt Statistics

Strengthen compilation and dissemination of scal statistics - GFS

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Real Sector Statistics

Strengthen compilation and dissemination of Consumer Price

Statistics - CPP

     

●

Strengthen compilation and dissemination of High Frequency

Economic Activity Indicators - HFE

     

●

Strengthen compilation and dissemination of Institutional Sector

Accounts - ISA

   

● ● ●

Strengthen compilation and dissemination of macroeconomic and

nancial statistics for decision making according to internationally

accepted statistical standards, including developing statistical

infrastructure, source data, serviceability and/or metadata

● ● ● ● ● ●



Strengthen compilation and dissemination of NAS -

Comprehensive updates and rebasing - NAR

     

●

TABLE 10: (CONTINUED)

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC32 | SECTION III

 Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Sri Lanka Regional

Strengthen compilation and dissemination of National Production,

Income and Expenditure Accounts - PIE



● ●

  

●

Strengthen compilation and dissemination of Prices -

Comprehensive updates and rebasing - PUR

   

●

 

Strengthen compilation and dissemination of Producer Price and

Trade Price Statistics - PPT

   

●

 

Monetary and Foreign Exchange Operations

Improving the economic analysis and forecasting capabilities at

the CB for the monetary policy decision-making process tailored

to the specic monetary and exchange rate policy regime.

   

●

 

Strengthen efcient implementation of monetary policy under the

existing regime - MPR

     

●

Strengthen the implementation of monetary policy under the

existing monetary regime - MRI

●

  

●



●

To develop the capacity of the authorities to implement FX

operations efciently and in a manner consistent with their chosen

monetary policy and FX regime



●

  

●



To strengthen the capacity of the central bank to implement

monetary policy effectively in the context of the given monetary

policy regime

● ●



● ● ●



Financial Sector Supervision and Regulation

Develop/strengthen banks’ regulation and supervision

frameworks - BRS

     

●

Develop/strengthen regulation of insurance companies (IC) and

risk based supervision capability of the insurance supervisor (IS)



●



●

  

Strengthened Financial Sector Surveillance through upgrading of

regulatory framework in line with international standards



● ● ● ●

 

To implement a risk-based supervision (RBS) system and upgrade

other supervisory processes

● ● ●



● ●



TABLE 10: (CONTINUED)

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION III | 33

Mr. Franck Viault

Minister Counsellor, Head of

Cooperation, Delegation of

the European Union to India

and Bhutan

“Despite the regional

differences, SARTTAC has been

able to strike a good balance

in terms of capacity building

support to each member

country. Its work complements

other capacity development

programs extremely well under

the leadership of the beneciary

countries.”

SECTION III

WORKPLAN BY SECTOR

Sector and country workplans for

FY24 have been developed in consul-

tation with MC agencies and IMF

HQ and factor in work of other CD

providers. The main components are

as follows:

• Macroeconomic Training and

Macroeconomic Frameworks

TA: The macroeconomic training

program, under the lead of the ICD,

will continue to be a mix of regional

courses aimed at supporting MCs in

addressing contemporary challenges,

including in climate, gender, and

ntech, and national courses

designed around the needs of

specic cohorts. SARTTAC, through

ICD, will deepen a relationship

started with the RBI in FY23 by

offering a rst-time foundation

course to incoming economists,

building on success experienced

with the IES in training probationary

ofcers. A growing part of the

macroeconomic training program

resources will be devoted to support

for macroeconomic frameworks TA—

on further developing a MTMF with

Bangladesh’s MOF and FPAS with

BB and CBSL and inaugurating new

work on developing an FPAS with

the Nepal Rastra Bank. To this end,

short missions will be undertaken by

SARTTAC’s Deputy Director in FY24

to most MCs to do a stock-taking on

macroeconomic training needs and

TA effectiveness, helping to better

inform CD requirements in FY24

and under Phase II of SARTTAC’s

operations. Along with providing

nancial support for ongoing and

new TA projects, SARTTAC will also

participate selectively in TA missions

to ensure the synergy of this TA

with regional training and other

CD programs.

• Revenue administration: The

RA work program is anchored

by earlier TADATs, which helped

inform comprehensive integrated

country-centric CD support plans

for implementation in FY24 and

beyond (Box 5). For Maldives,

FY24 SARTTAC-funded support is

focused on developing a Medium-

Term Revenue Strategy (MTRS),

while in Bhutan, after deferment of

the goods and services tax (GST)

implementation, TA will be delivered

to improve compliance areas and

support change management

planning and to reinvigorate GST

implementation using both SARTTAC

and JSA resources. In Bangladesh,

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC34 | SECTION III

SARTTAC course on Strengthening the Public Finance Management Framework for ofcials from Bangladesh under its

Institute of Public Finance’s Fiscal Economics and Economic Management program (October 10-14, 2022)

SARTTAC-funded TA is expected

to help improve compliance risk

management and develop a

MTRS, in keeping with program

understandings under current IMF

lending arrangements. Drawing from

the TADAT missions done in FY23,

a post-TADAT follow-up mission is

planned in Nepal. For Nepal, focus

will be placed on developing a

domestic revenue mobilization plan,

increasing voluntary compliance, and

improving customs management. For

Sri Lanka, most support on RA will

be anchored by multi-year reform

plan formulated by FAD and local

authorities, principally relying on

JSA funding. Regional workshops

and training courses are planned on

strengthening core tax administration

processes and governance of tax

administrations, including in new

areas for SARTTAC on international

tax administration, integrated risk

management in customs, and the

international survey on revenue

administration (ISORA). A leadership

course is also planned for senior and

middle-level tax administrators in

the region to enhance capacity for

leading and effectively implementing

change management. For India,

training topics have been diversied

to include a new course on revenue

forecasting for the Central Board of

Direct Taxes.

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION III | 35

BOX 5: USING TADATS TO GUIDE REVENUE ADMINISTRATION REFORMS

THE CHALLENGE

By mid 2022, most SARTTAC member

countries (MCs) began their recovery

process from the economic shocks of

the pandemic. Most realized the urgent

need to augment revenue mobilization

to reduce scal imbalances and garner

resources for much-needed social and

development expenditure. SARTTAC

was well prepared to provide capacity

development (CD) support in the form

of technical assistance and training

in specic revenue administration

(RA) areas that could result in higher

revenue yields. However, the challenge

was to undertake a quick assessment

of the state of health of the MC’s RA to

identify the specic areas of weakness

where targeted CD support could be

provided in the short and medium

term. This challenge was exacerbated

by the fact that in certain MCs, there

had been a hiatus of SARTTAC engage-

ment during the past few years, partly

owing to the reluctance of some RAs to

do TA virtually and given exigencies in

managing the immediate fallout from

the pandemic.

THE RESPONSE

The Tax Administration Diagnostic

Assessment Tool (TADAT) offered a

betting response to the challenge.

Being a standardized tool for assessing

the health of key components of a

country’s tax administration system

and its level of maturity in the context

of international good practices, the

MCs were persuaded to use the

TADAT to assess the relative strengths

and weaknesses of their tax admin-

istration system. After discussions

with the country revenue authorities,

in FY23, TADAT assessments were

conducted in Bhutan, Nepal and Sri

Lanka. With TADAT’s standardized

scoring methodology, administration

of the core taxes (corporate income

tax, personal income tax, value-added

tax, domestic excise taxes, and ‘Pay-As-

You-Earn amounts) were assessed

under the TADAT’s nine performance

outcome areas, using 32 high-level

indicators critical to performance. In

Maldives, with a TADAT assessment

done in FY22, a post-TADAT workshop

was conducted in FY23 to follow up

on recommendations.

THE RESULTS

The assessments yielded signicant

outputs. They covered areas critical

to revenue augmentation in the short

and medium term, such as the compli-

ance pillars and debt collection. In

addition, they covered important areas

in the medium to long term, such as

risk management, accountability and

transparency, and efcient revenue

management. First and foremost,

the assessments made RAs aware of

the reform areas that they need to

prioritize, which imparted clarity to

their thinking regarding sequencing

of requests for CD support. Equally,

they helped SARTTAC to prepare a

roadmap for RA CD support in the

remaining period of Phase I and in

Phase II, in consultation with country

authorities. Secondly, the assessments

were multi-institutional, with partici-

pation from the IMF, World Bank, and

Asian Development Bank. In post-

TADAT discussions, apart from areas

where the IMF can provide CD support,

areas where development partners

(DPs) can collaborate or complement

the IMF’s CD support work were iden-

tied, which will help avoid duplication

and overlapping with DPs’ own work.

Thirdly, the assessments sharpened

focus on areas that might be encom-

passed in program design under IMF

lending arrangements in the region,

themselves aimed at helping raise

revenue yields and reduce macroeco-

nomic imbalances.

• Public nancial management: The

PFM work program will remain one

of the largest areas of support in

SARTTAC’s regional workplan, given

demand by MCs, which has been

steadily increasing, and coverage

of subnational issues (India only).

Further efforts will be made in

strengthening budget preparation;

improving the coverage and quality

of scal reporting; modernizing

cash and debt management and

commitment controls; buttressing

public investment management;

and better identifying, monitoring,

and managing scal risks. Planned

TA will focus on strengthening FRM

with the aim to developing a scal

risk statement and on enhancing

coverage of the TSA (Bangladesh);

further developing a UCoA and

introducing a medium-term and

strategic perspective to budgeting

(Bhutan); buttressing budget

credibility, improving state-owned

enterprise nancial data and risk

management (Maldives); and

improving scal reporting and cash

management (Sri Lanka). In Nepal,

where engagement on PFM has

been limited, support will focus

around areas complementary to

the current IMF lending program,

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC36 | SECTION III

BOX 6: IMPLEMENTING COMMITMENT CONTROL AND MODERNIZING CASH MANAGEMENT IN ODISHA (INDIA)

THE CHALLENGE

A 2019 assessment mission to Indian

state of Odisha identied several

public nancial management (PFM)

reform topics. Initial capacity develop-

ment (CD) work addressed strategic

budgeting and scal risk management,

providing a basis for more effective

medium-term planning and forecasting

for Odisha’s Finance Department (FD).

In a second phase, the authorities

decided to tackle the need for better

commitment control in spending,

which, when weak, poses a scal risk

and undermines budget credibility.

The FD also sought to modernize

cash management in order to smooth

budget execution and enable the ef-

cient use of public money.

THE RESPONSE

The Odisha authorities realized weak

commitment controls can hide the

buildup of government liabilities.

SARTTAC technical assistance (TA)

missions were initiated to provide

training on establishing guidelines

for implementing and building out a

commitment control module within the

existing nancial management informa-

tion system (FMIS). Initial steps taken

included identifying pilot departments

within the government of Odisha

(GOO) for consolidating accounts and

implementing “just-in-time” payments

to minimize their need for cash

bank deposits.

Cash management reforms them-

selves rested on establishing a Cash

Management Unit (CMU) within the FD

and appointing a Cash Coordination

Committee for strategic guidance.

SARTTAC TA supported these reforms

and enabled staff of the CMU to

improve cash forecasting and cash

ow analysis through the use the

Cash Forecasting and Analysis Tool

(CFAT) designed by the IMF Fiscal

Affairs Department.

THE RESULTS

On commitment control, depart-

ments in the GOO are now receiving

training on the new module. This initial

phase will enable them to understand,

document, and review commitments

for upcoming liabilities and future

obligations. The module generates

a commitment register that is useful

in medium-term budget planning

process and in the management of

budget allocations.

On cash management, a module

within the FMIS captures spending

plans and can establish controls for

the timing of ows, allowing the FD to

more pro-actively manage the GOO’s

cash balance. The CFAT summarizes

historical results and forecast projec-

tions, while enabling scenario analysis.

The consolidation of accounts and

a ‘just in time’ approach for funding

schemes have been implemented for a

pilot set of agencies. Finally, a Budget

Stabilization Fund is being set up,

which will help facilitate cash planning

and forecasting. The results may serve

as a good model for other states in

India, including those possibly seeking

future support from SARTTAC in this

area.

notably on strengthening cash

management and FRM, the latter

involving development of a scal

risk register and statement. For

India, TA support will continue to be

concentrated on engagement with

selected states (Odisha and Tamil

Nadu), notably on cash management

and commitment control (see Box6),

budget preparation and FRM, and

public investment management,

including in the context of a planned

subnational PIMA (Odisha). Support

is also planned on strengthening

PFM and scal frameworks for

the state of Assam. In addition,

SARTTAC intends to continue

delivering selected workshops

at the sub-national level in India,

with ofcials from multiple states

gathering to learn about a reform

topic that is being implemented

by the host state. In this context,

multi-state workshops will be

hosted by Tamil Nadu on budget

documentation and transparency

and Odisha on cash management,

building on the success of one

done on FRM with a focus on PSUs

in FY23. Tailored PFM training will

continue for mid-to-senior level

ofcials from Bangladesh’s line

ministries in partnership with its IPF.

At the regional level, courses are

expected to build on earlier training

on PFM issues around digitalization,

cash management, and gender

responsive budgeting (with CDOT)

and FRM.

• Government nance statistics: The

GFS/PSDS work program focuses

on improving the scope and quality

of coverage, which has lagged in

achieving milestones related to

moving beyond budgetary central

government to general government

reporting as well increasing the

frequency of reporting from annual

to quarterly. Further work will be

done to increase GFS’s analytical

capacity (Bangladesh), improve the

quality and sectoral coverage of

source data (Bhutan), and produce

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION III | 37

GFS data on a Government Finance

Statistics Manual 2014 basis to

disseminate to IMF for the rst

time for the current year as well as

expanding coverage to subnational

government (Sri Lanka). For Nepal,

expanding coverage to include

extra-budgetary units continues to

be the focus as well as increasing

the frequency of dissemination

to quarterly. Work with India will

include assisting the country to

become compliant with the G-20

Data Gap Initiative II on GFS and

PSDS. Selected regional training

will be provided on introductory

and advanced GFS compilation and

on PSDS.

• Real sector statistics: The RSS work

program is geared toward further

strengthening compilation and

dissemination of GDP data according

to international statistical standards

and improving their periodicity.

While considerable progress has

been made in developing and

updating price indices, CD will

continue to be concentrated on

improving compilation techniques. A

central feature of the work program

will be on the development of

quarterly gross domestic product

(QGDP) statistics (Bangladesh and

Bhutan) and MIEG (Maldives), in

Bangladesh building on earlier

successes (Box 7). Technical

assistance will also be provided on

GDP rebasing (Bhutan and Maldives),

the nancial accounts and balance

sheets (India), and institutional

sectoral accounts (Nepal) to

improve the quality and consistency

of national accounts. Continued

engagement with Sri Lanka on

Institutional sector accounts is also

expected. Regional training will

focus on quarterly national accounts

compilation, MIEG, and supply and

use tables. A national training course

is planned for Indian subnational

government ofcials to assist in

building national account statistics

capacity at the subnational level.

• Monetary and foreign exchange

operations: The MONOPS work

program places particular emphasis

on providing TA for monetary

(Left) Maldives Inland Revenue Authority cohort at a regional course on Collection and Arrears Management and

(Right) the TADAT assessment teams from the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department and SARTTAC in Bhutan, Nepal,

and Sri Lanka during FY23

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC38 | SECTION III

BOX 7: ESTABLISHING A QUARTERLY GDP PROGRAM IN BANGLADESH

THE CHALLENGE

The national accounts program

of Bangladesh currently produces

annual gross domestic product (GDP)

estimates only—both at current and

constant prices, using the produc-

tion and expenditure methods. A

timely and comprehensive indicator

to monitor short-term changes in

economic activity is currently not

available. The Bangladesh Bureau of

Statistics (BBS) requested SARTTAC

support in FY23 to develop a quar-

terly gross domestic product (QGDP)

program, given the need for more

timely estimates of current economic

developments than produced annually

and for a more comprehensive

read on the economy than that is

provided through short-term indica-

tors. However, the challenge was to

gain access to data sources of other

agencies and also ensure timely avail-

ability of data for QGDP compilation.

THE RESPONSE

SARTTAC conducted two technical

assistance (TA) missions on compiling

QGDP in July 2022 and December

2022. These missions assisted the

BBS in establishing a QGDP program

and developing experimental QGDP

estimates and recommended nego-

tiating memoranda of understanding

with the data source agencies to

establish a calendar for timely data

sharing. Overall, the support has been

very successful, with the BBS having

uploaded QGDP estimates on its

website through FY2022/23 Q4 (i.e., to

June 2023). Looking ahead, from early

2024, QGDP estimates are expected to

be released regularly with a time lag

of 90-100 days, which will be reduced

gradually to meet the IMF Special Data

Dissemination Standard requirement

of no more than 90 days for release.

The real sector statistics expert in

SARTTAC has regularly briefed the

Bangladesh country team in the IMF

Asia and Pacic Department to keep

them apprised of progress, given the

importance of this work in improving

forecasting, also complementing the

TA provided by the IMF Institute for

Capacity Development to Bangladesh

Bank on developing a forecasting and

policy analysis system.

THE RESULTS

Preliminary experimental QGDP

estimates at constant prices were

compiled. The TA mission discussed

and updated the workplan to nalize

the experimental unadjusted QGDP

estimates at both constant and current

prices and a sources and methods

document for the purpose of dissem-

inating the estimates. QGDP will

provide a timely and comprehen-

sive indicator to monitor short-term

changes in economic activity and is

also one of the core indicators used

by the IMF for surveillance. The BBS’s

near-term priorities are compiling

timely QGDP estimates at constant

and current prices. Afterwards, it will

commence development of seasonally

adjusted QGDP.

operations including in countries

with exchange rate peg (Maldives,

Nepal, and Bhutan) and modernizing

monetary policy and FX frameworks

(Bangladesh and Sri Lanka).

Selected TA will be provided on

modernizing FX frameworks, FX

operations and market development

(Bangladesh, Maldives, and SriLanka)

and on collateral framework

implementation (Sri Lanka). Technical

assistance is also planned for

Sri Lanka on upgrading liquidity

monitoring and forecasting tools

to enable a sufcient calibration

of its open market operations

and thus anchoring of short-term

interbank rates to the policy rate.

InBangladesh, reforms to its

monetary policy framework are being

done with the adoption in FY24 of

an interest rate targeting framework,

as committed under its current

IMF-supported lending arrangement.

New technical support to bring

Nepal’s FX reserve management

closer to leading practices is also

planned. SARTTAC and CDOT

will deliver a jointly organized

regional course on monetary policy

implementation, building on similar

virtual support in this area during

the pandemic. An important addition

for the workshop is communication

and transparency on monetary

operations based on the principles

of the IMF Central Bank Transparency

Code.

A customized regional course

by SARTTAC in collaboration with

HQ experts will focus on advanced

methods for liquidity monitoring

and forecasting.

The IMF’s Central Bank Transparency

Code, developed in 2020, is an

international code that allows central

banks and their stakeholders to map

transparency practices of the central

bank to international best practices.

The purpose of the CBT is to enhance

transparency and accountability of

the central bank and contribute to

policy effectiveness. imf.org/external/

datamapper/CBT/

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION III | 39

SARTTAC course on Managing Fiscal Risk for Indian States co-organized with the Odisha (India) Finance Department and

hosted by the Madhusudan Das RegionalAcademyof Financial Management (Bhubaneswar, Odisha) (January 9-13, 2023)

• Financial sector supervision and

regulation: SARTTAC’s support

will be geared toward helping

supervisory and regulatory bodies

in the nancial sector to address

challenges confronting bank and

non-bank nancial institutions,

especially in the context of the

recent global turmoil. Further, as the

policy support announced during

the pandemic is coming to close

or has expired, country authorities

in the region need to increase the

focus on the credit quality indicators.

Accordingly, SARTTAC will support

them through CD in rening,

strengthening, and implementing

regulations relating to asset

classication, supervisory information

systems, and International Financial

Reporting Standards (IFRS) 9,

specically the expected credit loss

regime of provisioning. Regional

training courses will cover risk-based

supervision and navigating new

challenges in banking supervision,

bringing into focus contemporary

issues such as risk management,

including those related to interest

rate environment and climate

nance risks.

In response to MC requests, SARTTAC

will help organize and/or support

several other activities in FY24. Firstly,

a few short-term attachments are

planned, in which SARTTAC will bring

together ofcials from one agency to

understand the experiences of another

through a concentrated learning

program. Secondly, SARTTAC will host

a few courses falling out its direct

remit or through different funding

vehicles. A regional course on anti-

money laundering and combatting

the nancing of terrorism (AML/CFT)

issues will be held, at the behest of

India’s MOF and presented by the IMF

Legal Department (LEG), with SARTTAC

providing funding. A regional course

on the balance sheet approach is

being done with STA, in alignment with

SARTTAC’s work on GFS and RSS and

funded by the IMF Data for Decisions

CD Trust Fund, with several countries

from Southeast Asia also joining.

Finally, SARTTAC MC central banks will

be invited to join a high-level peer-to-

peer seminar on climate change issues

in Thailand in December 2023 being

organized jointly with CDOT, APD, and

MCM and funded by Korea.

Mr. Mahimapat Ray

Deputy Secretary, Fund, Bank

and ADB Division, Department

of Economic Affairs, Ministry of

Finance, Government of India

“Since its inception in 2017,

SARTTAC has played a vital role

in strengthening institutional

and human capacity of its

member countries as per their

needs.”

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC40 | SECTION III

A mission on Quarterly GDP Compilation with ofcials from Nepal’s National Statistics (February 2023)

Implementation challenges remain

substantial in the near term, similar

to those in FY23. Recipient agencies

will need to allocate adequate time

and resources to better design and

implement their own CD strategies,

which themselves should be revis-

ited periodically to ensure they are

anchored by clear objectives, mile-

stones, and results, with Phase II in

SARTTAC providing an opportunity

as well in the context of developing

new CD logframes. On the IMF’s

part, SARTTAC and the CDDs, in

coordination with APD, will remain

in close contact with each other and

with country authorities to ensure

planning and resourcing of CD are

supportive of implementing work-

plans. Implementation challenges

may be even more acute in program

countries, despite greater urgency to

undertake CD-supported reforms, in

part owing to intensive engagement

with the IMF (including SARTTAC) and

other CD providers, which may stretch

absorptive capacity. Here, better

coordination amongst these providers,

underpinned by clear prioritization of

needed support should help contain

bottlenecks. All requires timely conr-

mation of the scope and timing of

mission activities by recipient agencies

to ensure that relevant experts are

available to deliver requested support

on a cost-effective basis.

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION III | 41

SARTTAC/CDOT training (virtual) on Monetary Policy Implementation – Reserve Requirements (July 11-14, 2022)

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC42 | SECTION III

SECTION IV

SARTTAC FINANCES

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION IV | 43

SECTION IV

FY23 BUDGET OUTTURN

Total spending was $9.6 million

in FY23 against a working budget

of $12.0 million and spending of

$7.6million in FY22 (Table 11). The

working budget, as endorsed by the

SC in July 2022, built in higher cost

associated with in-person TA and

training, namely travel, on expecta-

tion that it would be the mainstay of

delivery in FY23. Lower than envisaged

delivery of planned TA, notably under

the MONOPS and FSR CD programs,

yielded some savings. Better planning

of in-person training courses helped

control travel-related expenses. Finally,

tighter control over general outlays

and the receipt of GST refunds in

India contained administrative-re-

lated expenses.

TABLE 11: SARTTAC FY23 BUDGET AND EXPENDITURE

(In millions of U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated)

Activity

Working

Budget

Expenses

Rate of Execution

(in percent)

Public Financial Management 1.80 1.69 94

Revenue Administration 1.37 1.28 93

Banking Supervision and Regulation 0.52 0.25 49

Monetary Policy Operations 0.62 0.34 54

Real Sector Statistics 0.73 0.57 78

Government Finance Statistics 0.58 0.42 73

Administrative Project 2.90 2.17 75

Macroeconomic Training Project 2.70 2.26 84

Governance and Evaluation

(including RBM advisor/backstopping)

… … …

Sub Total 11.21 8.97 80

Trust Fund Management 0.79 0.63 

Total 12.00 9.60 80

As endorsed by the Steering Committee on July 7, 2022.

Total FY23 expenses recorded as of April 30, 2023.

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC44 | SECTION IV

SECTION IV

FINANCIAL POSITION

As of end-FY23, total Phase I spending

represented 95 percent of Phase I

contributions received (Table 12).

The EU paid a nal installment of its

contribution under Phase I in May

2022. Since end-FY23, Australia paid

a second installment of its new ve-

year pledge in June 2023 and Nepal’s

MOF paid the nal installments of its

original contribution under Phase I in

July 2023.

Under the Letter of Understanding

reached in late 2021, Australia agreed to

disburse AUD 1 million in Phase I and AUD

1.5 million in Phase II.

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION IV | 45

TABLE 12: SARTTAC FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS PHASE 1: FY2017-FY2024

(As of July 31, 2023)

Agreement/Amendment Information

Contribution

Received

Partners/Members Signed Date

Currency Amount U.S. Dollars U.S. Dollars

Partners    21,170,551 21,759,256

Australia

16-04-16 AUD 2,500,000 1,923,373 1,836,700

Australia

22-12-21 AUD 1,000,000 715,461 685,465

European Commission

16-12-16 EUR 10,000,000 10,414,497 11,112, 511

Korea

04-05-16 USD 5,000,000 5,000,000 5,000,000

United Kingdom

06-03-17 USD 2,500,000 2,500,000 2,499,964

United Kingdom

31-10-19 GBP 480,000 617, 2 20 624,616

Members    10,200,000 10,200,000

Bangladesh

07-02-17 USD 3,000,000 3,000,000 3,000,000

Bhutan

19-03-18 USD 100,000 100,000 100,000

Maldives

02-04-18 USD 100,000 100,000 100,000

Nepal

05-10-17 USD 2,000,000 2,000,000 2,000,000

Sri Lanka

23- 05 -17 USD 5,000,000 5,000,000 5,000,000

Partners and Members Total    31,370,551 31,959,256

Internal Transfers

    

COVID19 Initiative

 USD 45,000 45,000 45,000

Internal Transfers Total    45,000 45,000

Host Country

    

India

 USD 32,800,000 32,800,000 32,800,000

Host Country Total    32,800,000 32,800,000

Grand Total    64,215,551 64,804,256

Program Document Budget

   68, 6 07,93 0 

Funding Gap

   –4,392,379 

May also refer to agreements that are under negotiation and approval date for Capacity Development Partnership agreements

(e.g.exible/umbrella agreements).

Includes latest installment of Australia’s contribution which was received on June 1, 2023.

United Kingdom contribution of GBP 500,000 was amended on July 19, 2021 to GBP 480,000.

Refers to a transfer from the IMF COVID-19 Capacity Development Initiative (CCCDI) to SARTTAC.

Includes nal installment of Nepal’s contribution received in July 2023.

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC46 | SECTION IV

SECTION IV

FY24 BUDGET

SARTTAC’s FY24 working budget of

$12 million, as endorsed by the SC

in June 2023 encompasses planned

spending under Phase I and Phase II

(Table 13). Based on SARTTAC’s nan-

cial position at the time of the seventh

annual SC meeting and expected

inows (including interest earned on

current balances) and outows (based

on planned activities and seasonal

factors), Phase I funding is expected

to cover outlays in May – December

2023 and Phase II funding is expected

to do the same in January – April 2024.

Excluding the trust fund management

fee, CD delivery is budgeted at $8.5

million and Center administration at

$2.7 million for the entirety of FY24.

Ondelivery, the spending share for

each sector is expected to be broadly

in line with that originally budgeted

in FY23. On administration, a portion

includes resources that may be used

for CD delivery for selective events

in FY24 in areas outside current

programs. The IMF has also committed

a modest amount of IMF01 funding for

SARTTAC in FY24 to cover selected

administrative expenses (including for

staff development) to ensure more

existing resources (i.e., IMF02 funding)

are available for CD delivery.

The commitment was made in 2021 under

a budget augmentation at the time for

selected RCDCs covering fragile and

conict affected states.

TABLE 13: SARTTAC FY24 BUDGET

(In millions of U.S. dollars)

Activity

Working Budget

Phase I Phase II Total

Public Financial Management 1.170 0.780 1.950

Revenue Administration 0.705 0.470 1.175

Banking Supervision and Regulation 0.420 0.280 0.700

Monetary Policy Operations 0.405 0.270 0.675

Real Sector Statistics 0.405 0.270 0.675

Government Finance Statistics 0.319 0.106 0.425

Administrative Project 1.623 1.082 2.705

Macroeconomic Training Project 1.668 1.233 2.900

Governance and Evaluation

(includingRBM advisor/backstopping)

0.010 0.000 0.010

Sub Total 6.724 4.491 11.215

Trust Fund Management 0.471 0.314 0.785

Total 7.195 4.805 12.000

Endorsed by the Steering Committee on June 20, 2023.

Phase I (May -December 2023) and Phase II (January - April 2024).

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION IV | 47

SECTION V

OTHER ISSUES

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION V | 49

Ms. Teresa Daban Sanchez

Resident Representative for

Nepal, IMF

“Since its approval in January

2022, SARTTAC has been an

effective partner to Nepal’s

efforts to implement the policies

and reforms of the economic

program supported by the

IMF Extended Credit Facility

arrangement. It has also been

a valuable provider of training

opportunities and a successful

organizer of regional workshops

and seminars. All this work is

contributing to enhance Nepal’s

governance, transparency, and

policy making frameworks, and

strengthening Nepal’s resilience

to shocks, including climate

change”.

SECTION V

STEERING

COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The SC continues to provide clear

guidance on the use of Center

resources to ensure strong account-

ability and transparency, especially

important in moving to a new phase

of operations. In keeping with this,

the SC convened for its seventh

annual meeting on June 20, 2023 in

New Delhi in a hybrid format and for

an interim meeting (virtual only) on

February 28, 2023, as summarized

below. During each meeting, updates

were provided on preparations for

Phase II of SARTTAC’s operations, with

SC consultation integral to continued

strong engagement with and support

from MCs and DPs in the years ahead.

Starting in 2022, an interdepartmental

committee at the IMF, headed by

the Director of SARTTAC, drafted a

strategy note on Phase II, which was

shared with IMF management. It set

out the envisaged size, scope, and

focus of the new phase, including

funding needs, CD programs, and

desired results—all consistent with a

targeted program budget for the next

phase of around $US80 million. To

reach this goal, funding commitments

are being sought from each current

MC and DP.

INTERIM MEETING

An interim SC meeting was held in

late February 2023 to update on

FY23 workplan execution, SARTTAC

nances, and Phase II preparation.

The meeting was joined by around

50 participants, including most SC

members or designates. The SC was

informed that a sizable share of the

work was being executed as planned,

especially training, aided by strong

buy-in from MCs and a resumption

in in-person delivery. Where delays

arose, SARTTAC noted most were due

to work reprioritization by MCs, as

they reassessed their post- pandemic

CD needs, and to lengthy hiring

processes in replacing a few LTXs

(hence resolved), affecting resource

availability. The revised workplan,

as discussed earlier, envisaged a

reduction in the number of activities

by slightly more than one-quarter

in comparison to the original plan

in FY23, with nearly all due to lower

expected TA delivery. As a result,

the SC was apprised that SARTTAC

nances were expected to stay in check

in FY23 and enable an extension of

Phase I of its operations to end 2023.

During the meeting, initial recognition

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC50 | SECTION V

A regional webinar on the Unfolding the Impact of the War in Ukraine on Asia delivered by the IMF Asia

and Pacic Department, joined by speakers from Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, and hosted and organized

by SARTTAC (May 4, 2022)

was also given to the Government of

India’s early pledge of US$50 million

to Phase II in SARTTAC—a sizable

increase from the US$32.8 million

given in PhaseI, providing a strong

foundation and catalyst of support for

the next phase.

ANNUAL MEETING

SARTTAC’s seventh annual SC meeting

focused on workplan implementation

in FY23, planning and budgeting in

FY24, and transition to the next phase

of operations. Around 60participants

joined the meeting, some virtually,

and included observers from the

World Bank, Asian Development Bank,

and Japan MOF. The draft workplan

and budget for FY24 were set out

for the SC’s endorsement. The main

meeting was preceded by bilat-

eral meetings (both in-person and

virtual) with selected MC agencies

focused on the contents of the FY24

workplan and support for Phase II

of SARTTAC’s operations. Ahead of

the main meeting, a draft report on

SARTTAC’s activities in FY23 (including

the FY24 workplan and budget) and an

annotated draft PD outlining Phase II

of SARTTAC operations were circulated

to the SC.

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION V | 51

During the meeting, SARTTAC

highlighted achievements in CD

during the past year. The SC

welcomed the strong delivery of

SARTTAC’s FY23 workplan (98 percent

of CD activities against the revised

FY23 annual workplan). They agreed

that effectiveness in implementing the

plan had been aided by the resumption

of in-person training and TA, but urged

SARTTAC to be exible in delivery

modalities, notably use of blended and

hybrid engagement. They recognized

the importance of ensuring resources

for CD were aligned well with program

requirements arising from IMF lending

arrangement in Bangladesh, Nepal,

and Sri Lanka. At the same time,

SARTTAC was urged to ensure it was

addressing CD needs in all countries

facing heightened vulnerabilities

amongst its members.

The SC endorsed SARTTAC’s FY24

workplan, including a few post-

meeting revisions, with MCs and

DPs welcoming the diversity and

dynamism of envisaged support. The

SC agreed with the division between

training and TA, with the latter

expected to be the largest component

of delivery in FY24 (about two-thirds

of planned activities), factoring in

some delays in update in FY23 and full

programs of support in MONOPS and

FSR CD. They also saw merit in reintro-

ducing selective attachments for MC

agencies to foster peer learning. The

SC further welcomed more CD support

in helping MCs address vulnerabil-

ities accentuated due to the global

growth slowdown and after-effects

of the pandemic. In addition, they

encouraged SARTTAC to deepen its

CD support in transformational areas

related to climate, digitalization, big

data, and gender issues. Outside the

workplan, the SC was also briefed

on plans by MCM to base a public

debt management (PDM) advisor in

SARTTAC in FY24. The position will

be funded by CD resources provided

to the IMF by Japan. Work will focus

on Maldives and Sri Lanka (and the

Lao People’s Democratic Republic) as

the main beneciaries of this support.

The SC agreed that PDM CD would

complement SARTTAC’s support in

macroeconomic training, PFM, and

monetary operations.

The SC meeting provided an oppor-

tunity to update on preparations for

Phase II in SARTTAC, which will be

anchored by a US$50 million contri-

bution by the Government of India.

This next phase of operations, which

is slated for January 2024 – April 2029,

will build on results achieved in Phase I

through a continuation of most existing

CD programs in SARTTAC, adapted to

include new projects. Both MCs and

DPs were encouraged to pledge their

support for the next phase, comple-

menting India’s planned contribution

and an early one made by Australia.

At the meeting, the EU pledged in

Phase II of € 2 million and indicated

it could contribute more later in the

phase. SARTTAC envisages that its

training program in Phase II will include

more cohort and subnational training,

while TA will continue to be aligned

with the IMF surveillance dialogue

and lending operations in MCs. Both

training and TA are expected to

encapsulate work in transformational

areas to ensure that SARTTAC is doing

its part to work with MCs in meeting

contemporaneous challenges posed

by climate change, gender gaps, and

technological change.

Mr. Gaurav Kapoor

Head Capital, British High

Commission in India,

Foreign, Commonwealth and

Development Ofce (FCDO)

“SARTTAC has been progressing

through the pandemic in

pushing its agenda forward and

delivering tangible outcomes

on the ground. We appreciate

the cross-learning opportunities

being provided by SARTTAC to

its member countries and would

encourage it being extended to

include development partners

as well.”

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC52 | SECTION V

Visit to SARTTAC by a delegation from the EU—a key development partner, getting rst-hand experience with a training

course and recognizing the Center’s contribution to capacity development work in the region (June 28, 2022)

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION V | 53

SECTION V

MID-TERMEXTERNAL

EVALUATION

Mr. Pratik Tayal, IAS

Deputy Secretary (Budget),

Finance Department,

Government of Tamil Nadu

“SARTTAC has provided

continuous support through

training and technical assistance

to the Government of Tamil

Nadu in its efforts to reform

public nancial management.

This collaboration has enabled

an exchange of global

best practices, leading to

substantial reforms, such as the

implementation of Citizen’s Guide

to Budget and the incorporation

of top-down budgeting

principles. We extend our sincere

appreciation to SARTTAC for

its invaluable contribution and

look forward to an ongoing

partnership towards achieving

even greater milestones.”

SARTTAC concluded a mid-term

external evaluation in 2022, with

some of the main recommendations

already in play and others to be taken

up in the next phase of operations.

As part of the evaluation, ICD and

SARTTAC prepared responses to each

main recommendation, which were

shared with the SARTTAC SC. A few of

those recommendations are already

being addressed—i.e., seeking larger

funding in Phase II from selected

existing and new contributors and

basing CD program budget alloca-

tions on post-pandemic country needs

and emerging global topics. Other

high-priority recommendations will be

addressed in the Phase II PD, including

strengthening SARTTAC’s gover-

nance and ensuring Results-Based

Management (RBM) log-frames are

reviewed and updated regularly.

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC54 | SECTION V

SECTION V

CD DISSEMINATION

On CD dissemination, SARTTAC took

a multi-pronged approach in FY23,

with standard commitments combined

with new approaches to ensure timely

reporting of activities and results.

SARTTAC continued to ensure access

to the SC to nalized TA reports

disseminated through IMF Partners

Connect (Annex 4). All activities were

regularly reported in SARTTAC’s

Quarterly Bulletin, including special

features around major CD results.

SARTTAC’s ofcial Twitter/X account

(https://twitter.com/sarttac), which was

launched in January 2022, is used on

a high-frequency basis to further raise

awareness of SARTTAC and the IMF’s

CD activities, also drawing trafc to

SARTTTAC’s website, with a substantial

rise in visits there in FY23.

IMF SARTTAC Seventh Annual Steering Committee Meeting, June 20, 2023 (Hybrid)

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC SECTION V | 55

ANNEXES

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC ANNEXES | 57

ANNEX 1: SARTTAC STAFF LIST

As of April 30, 2023

IMF SARTTAC INTERNATIONAL STAFF MEMBERS

DIRECTOR

David Cowen

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Saji Thomas

PUBLIC FINANCIAL

MANAGEMENT ADVISOR

Raju Sharan

PUBLIC FINANCIAL

MANAGEMENT ADVISOR

Celeste Kubasta

GOVERNMENT FINANCE

STATISTICS ADVISOR

Andrew Evans

MACROECONOMIC ADVISOR

Christian Johnson

REAL SECTOR STATISTICS ADVISOR

Rajeswari Thondiyil

REVENUE ADMINISTRATION ADVISOR

Ravinder Saroop

MACRO FISCAL ADVISOR

John Grinyer

MONETARY AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE

OPERATIONS ADVISOR

Oleg Churiy

FINANCIAL SECTOR REGULATION AND

SUPERVISION ADVISOR

Nitin Jain

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC58 | ANNEXES

IMF SARTTAC LOCAL STAFF MEMBERS

OFFICE MANAGER

Pramod Bhardwaj

BUDGET ASSISTANT

Nidhi Mehrotra

ECONOMIST

Ankit Singh

IT ADMINISTRATOR /

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Sumit Kumar

SENIOR IT OFFICER

Sanjeev Sharma

SENIOR ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Shaveta Gulati

SENIOR COURSE ADMINISTRATOR

Debraj Chaudhuri

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Mudit Mittal

COURSE ADMINISTRATOR

Jagriti Arya

STAFF ASSISTANT

Apoorba Mitra

SENIOR DRIVER

Umesh Kumar Singh

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC ANNEXES | 59

ANNEX 2: UPDATE ON CCCDI-FUNDED ACTIVITIES IN SARTTAC ON MACRO-FISCAL FRAMEWORKS

The macro-scal program in SARTTAC,

managed by the IMF Fiscal Affairs

Department (FAD) and anchored by a

long-term expert advisor (LTX) based

in SARTTAC during FY22 and FY23,

was funded under the IMF COVID-19

Crisis Capacity Development Initiative

(CCCDI). The LTX (John Grinyer) joined

SARTTAC in early January 2022 and

completed his term in April 2023,

which marked the end of availability of

resources under the CCCDI.

Under the CCCDI, the main theme

of macro-scal support was to

strengthen medium-term planning and

budgeting within member countries’

(MCs) nance ministries and, in the

case of Indian states, nance depart-

ments. All was anchored by a workplan

formulated by FAD in consultation with

member country agencies, country

teams in the IMF Asia and Pacic

Department, and SARTTAC. Under

this capacity development program,

support was also provided on scal risk

management (FRM) processes, with a

particular emphasis on assisting MCs

and states in quantifying and reporting

macro-scal risks.

The FY23 workplan built on previous

year’s engagement and brought

several new activities into focus. It

included continued support to crisis-

affected countries—notably Nepal and

Sri Lanka—on strengthening FRM and

further developing macro-scal func-

tions, with similar support planned for

Bangladesh (programmed support for

Bhutan and Maldives did not mate-

rialize). The workplans also included

selected regional and national training

under the LTX’s lead on quantita-

tive scal analysis and medium-term

scal frameworks (MTFFs). Within

the workplan, support from the LTX

was also included in selected PFM

training provided under SARTTAC’s

funding program.

In India, technical assistance was

planned under the lead and with the

support of the LTX for the states of

Odisha and Tamil Nadu, especially

the latter, aimed at helping helped

establish and formalize the intro-

duction of a MTFF as part of wider

strategic budgeting reforms. Finally,

the workplan built in new activity on

Assam—i.e., training on PFM reforms

encompassed in a new project

between SARTTAC and Assam’s

Finance Department, which had been

agreed with the India Ministry of

Finance’s Department of Economic

Affairs earlier in FY23.

The workplan was broadly delivered

as planned, with a list of completed

activities for FY22 and FY23 shown

in the table below. During the active

period of the program, SARTTAC

and FAD prepare short quarterly

updates on the LTX’s activities, which

are submitted to the IMF Institute for

Capacity Development for reporting to

the CCCDI’s own steering committee.

Going forward, with some of the need

for intensive support abating, the

macro-scal work in SARTTAC will be

subsumed within the Center’s PFM and

macroeconomic training programs.

Mr. John Grinyer, Macro-Fiscal Advisor under IMF CCCDI, in a regional course

on Taking on Green PFM and Climate Change (October 17–20, 2022)

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC60 | ANNEXES

ACTIVITIES UNDER THE MACRO-FISCAL CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN SARTTAC FUNDED THROUGH THE IMF

COVID-19 CRISIS CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE (FY22-23)

Name of Activity Country Activity Type Fiscal Year

Fiscal Risks (Tamil Nadu)

India Technical Assistance (TA) 2022

Webinar on Fiscal Risk Assessment Tool

India TA 2022

Customizing a Cash Forecasting Tool (Odisha)

India TA 2022

Stocktaking of Reform Activities (Odisha)

India TA 2022

Fiscal Risks

Nepal TA 2022

Fiscal Risks Analysis and Management

Regional Regional Training 2022

Strengthening the Public Financial Management Framework (with

Institute of Public Finance (IPF))

Bangladesh National Training 2023

Strengthening the Public Financial Management Framework (with IPF)

Bangladesh National Training 2023

Strengthening the Public Financial Management Framework (with IPF)

Bangladesh National Training 2023

Strategic Budgeting (Tamil Nadu)

India TA 2023

Strategic Budgeting (Tamil Nadu)

India TA 2023

Public Investment Management Assessment (Tamil Nadu)

India TA 2023

Public Investment Management Assessment (Tamil Nadu)

India TA 2023

Fiscal Risk Management for Selected Indian States

India National Training 2023

Budget Preparation (Tamil Nadu)

India TA 2023

Fiscal Risk Register

Nepal TA 2023

Medium Term Fiscal Framework

Nepal TA 2023

Fiscal Risk Register

Nepal TA 2023

Fiscal Risks Management

Sri Lanka TA 2023

Macro-Fiscal Analysis and Quantitative Methods

Regional Regional Training 2023

Developing a Medium-Term Fiscal Framework Tool

Regional Regional Training 2023

Taking on Green PFM and Climate Change

Regional Regional Training 2023

Effective Management of Public Investment

Regional Regional Training 2023

Commencing in January 2022 and concluding in April 2023.

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC ANNEXES | 61

ANNEX 3: SARTTAC TRAINING PLAN FOR FY24

Title

Start Date End Date Status Target Audience

ICD Courses

Selected Macroeconomic Issues for Mid-Career

Ofcers

July 3, 2023 July 14, 2023 Completed India (Indian Economic Service

(IES))

Fintech Market Development and Policy

Implications

July 17, 2023 July 21, 2023 Completed All Member Countries

Selected Macroeconomic Issue for Mid-Career

Ofcers

August 9, 2023 August 12, 2024 Completed India (Reserve Bank of India

(RBI))

Foundation Training - Macroeconomic Module

(LBSNAA)

September 13,

2023

September 15,

2023

Completed India (Civil Servants)

Nowcasting September 18,

2023

September 29,

2023

Completed All Member Countries

Financial Programming and Policies for

Probationary Ofcers

October 3, 2023 October 13, 2023 Completed India (Indian Economic Service

(IES))

Macroeconomic Diagnostics for Probationary

Ofcers

October 16, 2023 October 27, 2023 Completed India (IES)

Exchange Rate Policy October 30, 2023 November 9,

2023

Completed All Member Countries

Selected Macroeconomic Issues for General

Inductees

December 4,

2023

December 8,

2023

Completed India (RBI)

Selected Macroeconomic Issues for Mid-Career

Ofcers

December 11,

2023

December 22,

2023

Completed India (IES)

Foundation Course for RBI January 8, 2024 January 19, 2024 Planned India (RBI)

Macroeconomics of Climate Change January 29, 2024 February 8, 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Fiscal Sustainability February 5, 2024 February 16,

2024

Planned All Member Countries

Financial Sector Policies February 19, 2024 February 29,

2024

Planned All Member Countries

Monetary Policy February 26,

2024

March 8, 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Gender Inequality and Macroeconomics April 22, 2024 April 26, 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Selected Macroeconomic Issues for India: Phase 1

(LBSNAA)

March 2024 March 2024 Planned India (Indian Administrative

Service)

Financial Programming and Policies March/April 2024 March/April 2024 Planned Sri Lanka (Ministry of Finance

and Central Bank of Sri Lanka)

Non-ICD Courses

Revenue Administration

Revenue Forecasting and Analysis June 12, 2023 June 16, 2023 Completed India (Central Board of Direct

Taxation (CBDT))

International Survey on Revenue Administration August 21, 2023 August 25, 2023

Completed All Member Countries

Compliance Risk Management

September 24,

2023

September 28,

2023

Completed Bangladesh (National Board of

Revenue)

Effective Leadership for Revenue Administration February 19, 2024 February 23, 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Compliance Risk Management March 4, 2024 March 8, 2024 Planned India (CBDT)

International Tax Administration April 1, 2024 April 5, 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Integrated Risk Management in Customs April 22, 2024 April 26, 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC62 | ANNEXES

ANNEX 3: (CONTINUED)

Title

Start Date End Date Status Target Audience

Public Financial Management

Improving Budget Documentation and

Transparency

June 14, 2023 June 16, 2023 Completed India (Tamil Nadu and Selected

Other Indian States)

Strengthening Public Management

Framework(PFM) Framework

July 3, 2023 July 7, 2023 Completed Bangladesh (Institute of Public

Finance (IPF))

Public Financial Management Reforms July 17, 2023 July 21, 2023 Completed India (Assam)

Treasury Single Account August 22, 2023 August 24, 2023 Completed Bangladesh (Ministry of

Finance)

Implementing Modern Cash Management

(withCDOT)

August 28, 2023 September 1,

2023

Completed All Member Countries

Strengthening PFM Framework October 3, 2023 October 7, 2023 Completed Bangladesh (IPF)

Cash Management November 21,

2023

November 23,

2023

Completed India (Odisha and Selected

Other Indian States)

Strengthening PFM Framework January 22, 2024 January 26, 2024 Planned Bangladesh (IPF)

Strengthening Public Investment Framework January 28, 2024 February 1, 2024 Planned Bangladesh (Ministry of Finance)

Introduction to Budget Management March 3, 2024 March 7, 2024 Planned Bangladesh (Ministry of

Finance)

Digitalization and Fiscal Transparency (with CDOT) April 23, 2024 April 26 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Public Investment Management Assessment March 2024 March 2024 Planned India (Odisha)

Government Finance Statistics/Public Sector Debt Statistics

G-20 Data Gaps Initiative - Budgetary Central

Government

May 8, 2023 May 11, 2023 Completed India (Ofce of Controller

General of Accounts)

Introduction to Government Finance Statistics August 28, 2023 September 1,

2023

Completed All Member Countries

Advanced Government Finance Statistics October 16, 2023 October 20, 2023 Completed All Member Countries

Public Sector Debt Statistics January 15, 2024 January 19, 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Real Sector Statistics

International Trade in Goods and Services July 24, 2023 July 24, 2023 Completed All Member Countries

Residential Property Price Indices (by the IMF

Statistics Department through CDOT)

September 18,

2023

September 22,

2023

Completed Maldives

Services Producer Price Index November 6,

2023

November 10,

2023

Completed

India (Department for Promotion

of Industry and Internal Trade,

Ministry of Commerce and

Industry, and Ministry of

Statistics and Programme

Implementation (MOSPI))

Quarterly National Accounts and Seasonal

Adjustment

December 11,

2023

December 15,

2023

Completed All Member Countries

Subnational National Accounts March 11, 2024 March 15, 2024 Planned India (MOSPI)

High-Frequency Indicators and Monthly Indicators

of Economic Growth

April 1, 2024 April 5, 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Compiling Supply Use Tables/Input Output Tables April 29, 2024 May 3, 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC ANNEXES | 63

Title

Start Date End Date Status Target Audience

Monetary and Foreign Exchange Operations

Monetary Policy Implementation (with CDOT) January 29, 2024 February 2, 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Liquidity Forecasting March 4, 2024 March 8, 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Financial Sector Supervision and Regulation

Core Elements of Banking Supervision: An

Overview and Regional Perspectives

September 11,

2023

September 15,

2023

Completed All Member Countries

Navigating Banking Supervision - Unpacking

the Latest Supervisory Issues with a Regional

Perspective

January 22, 2024 January 25, 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Customized Training on Fintech Issues April 2024 April 2024 Planned India (RBI)

Other Sectors

Enhancing the Effectiveness of AML/CFT

Frameworks: Evolution of the FATF Standard

January 8, 2024 January 12, 2024 Planned All Member Countries

Attachments in FY24

Public Financial Management

Public Financial Management Digital Systems

(withCDOT)

October 30, 2023 November 3,

2023

Completed Bhutan, Cambodia, and Sri

Lanka (Ministries of Finance)

Monetary and Foreign Exchange Operations

Interest Rate Corridor (attachment with the

Reserve Bank of India)

July 10, 2023 July 12, 2023 Completed Bangladesh (Bangladesh Bank)

Financial Sector Supervision and Regulation

Risk-Based Supervision (attachment with the

Reserve Bank of India)

September 20,

2023

September 22

2023

Completed Bangladesh (Bangladesh Bank)

Webinars in FY24

Government Finance Statistics/Public Sector Debt Statistics

Webinar on Fiscal Risks within the GFS Framework

(with CDOT)

October 10, 2023 October 10, 2023 Completed All member countries

GFS and Contingent Liabilities (with CDOT) October 17, 2023 October 17, 2023 Completed All member countries

GFS and State-Owned Enterprises (with CDOT) October 23, 2023 October 23, 2023 Completed All member countries

Public Sector Balance Sheets (with CDOT) November 21,

2023

November 21,

2023

Completed All member countries

GFS and Public Private Partnerships (with CDOT) November 29,

2023

November 29,

2023

Completed All member countries

ANNEX 3: (CONTINUED)

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC64 | ANNEXES

Title

Start Date End Date Status Target Audience

Real Sector Statistics

Measuring the Digital Economy September 26,

2023

September 26,

2023

Completed All member countries

Financial Sector Supervision and Regulation

Basel III Core Principles August 9, 2023 August 9, 2023 Completed All member countries

Non-SARTTAC Training in FY24

IMF Statistics Department

Balance Sheet Approach August 21, 2023 August 25, 2023 Completed All Member Countries (hosted

by SARTTAC)

IMF Asia and Pacic Department

Seminar (hybrid) on Achieving Growth Friendly

Climate Action and Financing in South Asia (with

the IMF Research Department and Institute for

Capacity Development)

July 20, 2023 July 20, 2023 Completed All Member Countries

Seminar (hybrid) on India’s Digital Public

Infrastructure (with the India Ministry of Finance)

September 22,

2023

September 22,

2023

Completed All Member Countries and

Africa, Central Asia, and

Middle East regional capacity

development centers of the

IMF

High-Level Seminar on Climate Change Issues

(with the IMF Monetary and Capital Markets

Depart, CDOT, and the Bank of Thailand)

December 12,

2023

December 13,

2023

Completed All Member Countries (hosted

by CDOT)

The FY24 training schedule has been updated as of December 31, 2023, with selected additions and deletions against the original

schedule and SARTTAC workplan. The timing of actual and planned deliver shown in this annex may be deviate from the timing indicated in

the original workplan approved by SARTTAC’s Steering Committee and as summarized in Table 8. Italicized activities (for India) are subject

to nal approval by the Ministry of Finance’s Department of Economic Affairs.

Training delivered as part of a technical assistance (TA) mission and classied as TA in Table 8.

The participation by Maldives was supported by SARTTAC. The participation by other SARTTAC member countries was supported through

the IMF Data for Decisions Fund.

ANNEX 3: (CONTINUED)

Annual Report 2023 | SARTTAC ANNEXES | 65

ANNEX 4: SARTTAC TA REPORTS DISSEMINATED THROUGH IMF PARTNERS CONNECT IN FY23

Title of the TA Report

Delivery

Department

Country

Government Finance and Public Sector Debt Statistics Mission (February 27 – March 3, 2022)

STA-GFS Bangladesh

National Accounts – Compiling and Balancing Supply and Use Tables (January 10 – 14, 2022)

STA-RSS Bangladesh

Updating the Consumer Price Index (January 16 – 20, 2022)

STA-RSS Bangladesh

Updating the Consumer Price Index (May 8 – 12, 2022)

STA-RSS Bangladesh

Modernizing the Chart of Accounts (July – October 2021)

FAD-PFM Bhutan

Government Finance Statistics Mission (February 7 – 11, 2022)

STA-GFS Bhutan

National Accounts – GDP Rebasing – Development of Supply and Use Tables (April 18 – 29, 2022)

STA-RSS Bhutan

Strengthening Supervisory Capacity at the Royal Monetary Authority (April 11 – 15, 2022)

MCM-FSR Bhutan

Enhancing Cash Management (August 4 – November 15, 2021)

FAD-PFM India (Odisha)

Preparing a Citizens Budget (January 17 – 30, 2022)

FAD-PFM India (Tamil Nadu)

Developing the Commitment Control System (March 31 – April 15, 2022)

FAD-PFM India (Odisha)

Tax Compliance of Insurance Businesses (January 10 – 24, 2022)

FAD-RA Maldives

Implementing the Advance Pricing Arrangement Program (April 4 – 18, 2022)

FAD-RA Maldives

Seeking Higher Ground: A Medium-Term Revenue Strategy to Finance Development

(August7– 15, 2022)

FAD-RA Maldives

Development of Tax Treaty Policy (July 17 – 21, 2022)

PFM-RA Maldives

Government Finance Statistics and Public Sector Debt Statistics Mission (January 9 – 20, 2022)

STA-GFS Maldives

National Accounts – Updating Supply and Use Tables (January 16 – 20, 2022)

STA-RSS Maldives

Strengthening Supervisory Capacity at the Maldives Monetary Authority

(February 21 – March 3, 2022)

MCM-FSR Maldives

Developing a Revenue Mobilization Strategy (August 24 – September 6, 2022)

PFM-RA Nepal

Government Finance Statistics Mission (September 12 – 17, 2021)

STA-GFS Nepal

Updating the Producer Price Index (November 1 – 12, 2021)

STA-RSS Sri Lanka

GDP Rebasing - Review of Supply and Use Tables (February 7 – 8, 2022)

STA-RSS Sri Lanka

Annual Report 2023 | SART TAC66 | ANNEXES

FOREWORD

This report was prepared by David Cowen, Ankit

Singh, and Mudit Mittal in the IMF South Asia

Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center

(SARTTAC), with inputs from the long-term expert

advisors, Pramod Bhardwaj, Debraj Chaudhuri,

and Nidhi Mehrotra in SARTTAC, and from Reem

Sweiss and Ana Rosales in the IMF Institute for

Capacity Development. Mishri Someshwar in the

IMF Corporate Services and Facilities Department

led preparation of the publication version of the

report. The views expressed here are those of

SARTTAC, with thanks to IMF and external stake-

holders for permission to use quotes provided

in the report.

Bhutan

Nepal

India

Sri Lanka

Bangladesh

Maldives

(Korea)

European Union

IMF SARTTAC Member Countries:

Development Partners:

SARTTAC is generously supported by:

Foreign, Commonwealth

& Development Office

IMF SOUTH ASIA REGIONAL

TRAINING AND TECHNICAL

ASSISTANCE CENTER

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Institute for Capacity Development

Global Partnerships Division

700 19th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20431 USA

T. +(1) 202.623.7636

F. +(1) 202.623.7106

GlobalPartnerships@IMF.org

South Asia Training and

Technical Assistance Center

6th Floor, Worldmark 2 Building

Aerocity, New Delhi 110037, India

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