The International Monetary Fund has re-strategised to help member countries build capacity and develop their key economic and financial institutions by creating a new department that would focus on capacity building, economic development and financial institutions.A statement from the IMF made available to the Nigerian Compass said that new department would be formed by merging the IMF Institute and the Office of Technical Assistance Management, affirming that the new department would enable stronger synergies between technical assistance and training to better reflect country priorities, facilitate fund raising, and benefit from economies of scale. The decision to merger both departments was the result of a discussion by the Executive Board in November 2011 of a Report of the Task Force on the Fund's Technical Assistance Strategy.The department, which would begin operation in May 2012 would not entail any additional budget costs. 'We appreciate the high value that member countries place on the technical assistance and training the Fund provides, and we intend to preserve and build on the strengths of both,' IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde said. 'This new department will allow us to improve our institutional development and capacity-building activities to help our members meet the economic challenges of a complex and fast-changing world,' Lagarde added.The new department would be headed by Ms. Sharmini Coorey, who is currently Director of the IMF Institute. The new department would be responsible for defining an institutional development and capacity building strategy for the Fund in consultation with other departments and updating it's over time in response to the evolving needs of Fund members.The statement also said that the new department would be coordinating the provision of technical assistance and training across departments, with the aim of ensuring that these activities are driven by member country demand, focused on the Fund's core macro (economic and financial) mandate, and integrated with its surveillance and program responsibilities.It added that it would be also designing and delivering, in cooperation with other departments, training that reflects member countries' and Fund staff's needs while enhancing partnerships with donors and other key stakeholders to underscore that the Fund is modernizing and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of its institutional development and capacity-building activities. The department is expected to design and coordinate processes for evaluating the effectiveness of technical assistance and training will be important in this regard as well as ensure that the network of regional training and technical assistance centres is efficiently managed with a view to building a global network of capacity building centres over the medium-term.The statement that department would be reporting to and seeking strategic guidance from the Board through periodic reviews of the Fund's technical assistance and training.
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