IMF Capacity Development

🌍 New IMF Online Course: IMF Data Standards Initiatives (DSIx)

What you’ll learn:

▪️ A clear understanding of the IMF Data Standards Initiatives
▪️ The differences between the three DSI tiers: e-GDDS, SDDS, and SDDS Plus
▪How data transparency supports economic stability and market confidence

By the end of the course, you will be able to explain the key features of each DSI tier and understand how participation can strengthen data dissemination practices, improve transparency, and contribute to stronger statistical systems worldwide.

👉 Enroll today:

Government Officials: https://imfol.org/4vKI0vt
General Public: https://imfol.org/3Tcd75G

📆 Course Dates:

Start Date: July 20, 2026
End Date: December 31, 2026
Application Deadline: December 15, 2026

With the financial support of the Government of Japan.

On July 6, officials from 35 IMF member countries arrived at Headquarters to attend the IMF course on Financial Development and Financial Inclusion.

For two weeks, participants had the opportunity to dive into the macroeconomic relevance of financial development and inclusion, learn about financial inclusion as an integral dimension of financial development, and review measures of financial inclusion, its macroeconomic impact, and the main policy strategies pursued.

This was also an opportunity for many participants to discover Washington, DC, for the first time, connect with participants from other parts of the world and IMF staff, and join in the excitement of the World Cup.

In a world marked by uncertainty and shocks, strengthening countries’ resilience to financial crime is more critical than ever. The IMF’s Anti–Money Laundering & Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) capacity development thematic fund remains a cornerstone of our support for member countries in safeguarding financial integrity, protecting macroeconomic stability, and strengthening sustainable growth.

During the 2026 steering committee meeting, chaired by Saudi Arabia, donor partners supporting the AML/CFT fund underscored the tangible results across a broad portfolio of 12 individual country initiatives, 2 regional projects, and 10 thematic programs. Recent work has supported the adoption of comprehensive AML/CFT legislation, the enhancement of risk-based supervision frameworks, and the strengthening of legal and regulatory frameworks.

Impact strongly depends on the engagement of country authorities—like in Algeria, which thorough sustained effort backed by IMF’s technical assistance was recently removed from the so-called grey list, identifying jurisdictions under increased monitoring by the Financial Action Task Force.

Looking ahead, as the current phase of AML/CFT fund's approaches its conclusion in 2027, priorities include consolidating results, scaling impact, and implementing the IMF’s response and action plan, following the independent evaluation. At the same time, the IMF is preparing the launch of an Anti‑Money Laundering and Anti‑Corruption (AMLAC) initiative, which will expand the scope of support for member countries to include the interlinkages between financial integrity, governance, and corruption risks.

The new initiative will continue to ensure strong governance, financial sustainability, and close alignment with the priorities of donor partners.

We are grateful for the unwavering support of AML/CFT fund's partners: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom).

International Monetary Fund helps strengthen financial stability where it matters most!

Our Financial Sector Stability Fund (FSSF) is a multi-partner vehicle that pulls resources for the IMF’s capacity development work in the area of financial stability. It is focused on supporting low-income, lower-middle-income, and fragile countries—where strengthening financial systems and stability is both most challenging and most critical.

At the core of the FSSF’s support for members are the financial sector stability reviews, which take a comprehensive look at financial systems, assessing vulnerabilities across:
➡️ Regulatory and supervisory frameworks
➡️ Systemic risk monitoring and stress testing
➡️ Financial safety nets

What sets our financial stability support apart is the strong emphasis on implementation: the findings of the reviews are translated into targeted, sequenced technical assistance, delivered in close collaboration with country authorities. This ensures that reforms are not only well-designed, but also practical, sustained, and country-owned.

Over the past year, the FSSF has continued to deliver tangible results:
➡️New diagnostics completed across diverse country contexts
➡️ Expansion of follow-up technical assistance programs
➡️ Strengthened financial stability functions, macroprudential frameworks, and stress testing capacity
➡️ Improved financial sector data and financial soundness indicators, supporting more informed policymaking

Most importantly, this work is leading to real institutional changes on the ground.

Countries are establishing financial stability departments, building analytical capacity, and integrating better data into decision-making processes. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, FSSF support has contributed to the creation of a financial stability department and macroprudential capacity—critical building blocks for resilience.

This week in Paris, FSSF partners came together for the Steering Committee meeting, reaffirming their shared commitment to supporting financial stability in the countries that need it most. Demand for this help continues to grow, particularly in countries facing capacity constraints and structural vulnerabilities. The FSSF focus going forward will be on deepening implementation, scaling impact, and continuing to strengthen the visibility of this important work.

We are grateful to Germany (outgoing chair), Switzerland (incoming chair), China, Korea, Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia, and Sweden, for supporting this important work.

💡 What encourages taxpayers to comply voluntarily?

The answer goes beyond enforcement.

The new IMF Institute Learning Channel playlist, Foundations of Payment and Debt Management, shows how payment and debt management frameworks support that process. It links the four pillars of tax compliance with a practical approach to debt management, helping administrations balance taxpayer support with enforcement when needed.

A quick, structured way to understand how compliance systems work in practice.

▶️ Watch the playlist: https://imfol.org/VITARA-PDMPL1FB

In an increasingly complex and interconnected global economy, marked by heightened volatility, climate risks, and rapid structural transformation, the availability of timely, high-quality, and accessible data has become more critical than ever.

The IMF’s Data for Decisions (D4D) capacity development thematic fund plays a pivotal role in helping countries strengthen their statistics to meet these demands. It particularly supports low- and lower-middle-income countries and fragile and conflict-affected states.

The D4D fund’s steering committee met in Paris on June 22, bringing together contributing partners and IMF staff to reflect on the achievements, discuss priorities for the coming 18 months, and reaffirm our shared commitment to strengthening the statistical foundations needed for better policy decisions. The steering committee endorsed the updated work program and budget and supported enhanced flexibility to ensure the IMF can continue responding effectively to evolving country needs and priorities.

We are grateful for the continued guidance, engagement, and support of all D4D partners: China, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland. We are particularly grateful to Luxembourg, as chair of the steering committee, for its leadership and stewardship over the past year, and for hosting a productive and constructive discussion.

Together, we are helping countries build stronger, timelier, and more accessible data systems—and better data leads to better decisions.

With repeated shocks roiling the global economy, IMF members must tax effectively and spend efficiently to preserve growth. Many countries require capacity development to improve their public finance resilience. Today we discussed recent achievements and strategy for this crucial work with the 14 development partners on the steering committee of the Global Public Finance Partnership (GPFP), the IMF’s flagship vehicle for fiscal capacity development.

Together, we are committed to support authorities as they work to identify fiscal priorities and implement plans to strengthen public finance. The GPFP currently works with 65 member countries, with the funding and strategic guidance of our 14 development partners. Our discussion today confirmed the GPFP’s focus on low-income developing countries and fragile and conflict-affected states, which together will receive 75% of GPFP funding, based on a country centered programmatic approach. Through close collaboration with governments and development partners, the GPFP helps maximize the impact of increasingly constrained development resources.

We are grateful to the GPFP partners for their continued support of IMF fiscal capacity development work: Belgium, Denmark, the European Union, France, Germany, Japan - The Government of Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. We would like to thank France’s Ministry of Finance for hosting the meeting, and welcome the EU’s -General for Enlargement and the Eastern Neighbourhood as our newest partner.

To learn more about the GPFP, click on the infographic in the images below.

To hear Syria’s Minister of Finance share how our support, underpinned by the GPFP, makes an impact in his country, watch this video from the 2026 IMF Spring Meetings: https://www.imfconnect.org/content/imf/en/annual-meetings/calendar/open/2026/04/15/207117.html

Photos courtesy of Daniela Tort.