IMF | Capacity Development Office in Thailand

December 5 – 9: Government Finance Statistics

In consultation with the Ministry of Finance (MOF) of Lao PDR, CDOT provided an in-country technical assistance (TA) mission on Government Finance statistics (GFS) and Public Sector Debt Statistics (PSDS) in Vientiane. The mission worked with the Fiscal Policy Department (FPD) and other reporting departments on: (i) compiling PSDS data, including arrears (ii) examining terms and recording in the budget execution report of the government bonds issued in FY2021–22 for recapitalization and privatization of banks; (iii) investigating the SOEs reform and examining available financial reports of nonfinancial SOEs to compile GFS as pilot cases; (iv) improving GFS data accuracy; and (v) discussing a social security operations funds (SSFs)’ data sharing arrangement to compile GFS for SSFs in a timely manner.

November 27 – December 15: Macroeconomic Frameworks

		CDOT provided technical assistance on macro-economic frameworks to the cross-agency macro core group. It covered financial programming and introduced macroeconomic framework concepts. Participants were from The Macroeconomic Research Institute (MRI) of the Lao Academy of Social and Economic Science (LASES), the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) including the Lao Statistics Bureau (LBS),
the Bank of Lao PDR (BOL), the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MLSW) and the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM). The technical assistance included (i) the consolidation of a shared and comprehensive macroeconomic database populated by data collected by the agencies during in-between mission work, (ii) data quality and consistency checks, (iii) formalizing roles, responsibilities and processes for the ongoing maintenance and updates of the database, and (iv) linking the database to the Macroeconomic Foundations Tool (MFT).

November 20 – 24: Government Finance Statistics

CDOT provided a technical assistance on Government Finance Field-Based Work to the authorities of the Lao PDR, including Fiscal Policy Department (FPD), the Public Debt Management Department (PDMD), Department of State-Owned Enterprises and Insurance (DSRI), Accounting Department (ACD), and National Treasury Department (NTD) of the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), and the Lao Social Security Organization (LSSO). The mission focused on Government Finance statistics (GFS) and Public Sector Debt Statistics (PSDS) compilation and dissemination and data collection.

October 16 – 24: Monetary and Foreign Exchange Operations

At the request of the Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL), the mission travelled to Vientiane to continue the engagement with the BOL in support of the development of its monetary operations framework under the multi-year Capacity Development workplan agreed with the BOL during the scoping mission of June 28-July 12, 2023. This mission focused on the introduction of averaging provisions for reserve requirements, the design of an interest rate corridor (IRC), and the setting up of a liquidity monitoring and forecasting capacity.

September 4 – 8: Forecasting and Policy Analysis Systems (FPAS)

CDOT conducted a technical assistance (TA) on the Forecasting and Policy Analysis Systems (FPAS) at the Bank of the Lao PDR. The mission provided the BOL advice on monetary policy framework and decision-making process. The mission also reviewed BOL’s existing forecasting and policy analysis tools and identify prospective tools for further TA project.  

August 14 – 22: Macroeconomic Frameworks

CDOT conducted a scoping mission at the Lao PDR to diagnose the current macroeconomic framework tools and processes of the authorities. The mission also delivered training on macroeconomic frameworks, focusing on tool options and wider action plan for the TA project.

July 9 – 17: Cash Management

At the request of the Lao PDR Ministry of Finance to advance cash management practices though a training program on cash management, CDOT conducted an in-country mission discussing cash management issues with Mrs. Vanhpone Phommasone, Director General of the National Treasury Department, following which a 4-day training on Cash Management during July 11 - 14. The mission culminated with a discussion on future technical assistance needs of the National Treasury.

May 11 – 12: Government Finance Statistics

In consultation with the Ministry of Finance (MOF) of the Lao PDR, CDOT provided an in-country technical assistance (TA) mission on Public Sector Debt Statistics (PSDS) in Vientiane. This mission helped the Public Debt Management Department (PDMD) to make further progress in PSDS compilation and dissemination. The mission also collaborated with a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) mission that was at the same time in Vientiane to further implement the Debt Management and Financial Analysis System (DMFAS).

March 27 – April 28: Government Finance

In consultation with the Ministry of Finance (MOF) of the Lao PDR, an in-country technical assistance (TA) mission on Government Finance statistics (GFS) and Public Sector Debt Statistics (PSDS) was conducted from March 27 – April 28, 2023, with subsequent remote work during April 1 to May 4, 2023. This mission worked with the Fiscal Policy Department (FPD), Public Debt Management Department (PDMD), other reporting departments and the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to assist them in making further progress in GFS and PSDS compilation and dissemination. The mission also discussed arrears reporting and provided the MOF on-the-job training for GFS compilation.

January 30 – February 10: Government Finance and Public Sector Debt

CDOT and the IMF’s Statistics Department (STA) conducted a mission on Government Finance statistics (GFS) and Public Sector Debt Statistics (PSDS) in Vientiane. The mission helped the authorities to address key fiscal data issues and provided a workshop and technical assistance on Forecasting and Policy Analysis System (FPAS).

January 30 – February 16: Macroeconomic Frameworks and Forecasting and Policy Analysis Systems (FPAS)

CDOT and the IMF Institute for Capacity Development (ICD) conducted discussions with the Laos authorities on possible engagements to support macroeconomic frameworks capacity building, including for the Forecasting and Policy Analysis Systems (FPAS). The mission analyzed links between debt sustainability and monetary policy and presented a model of debt dynamics.