Researching the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
This guide serves as a basic research tool for documents and statistics of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The guide is not comprehensive, nor are all IMF publications freely available on the web. For additional publications consult
Pathfinder (the catalog of the UC Berkeley library) and Melvyl (the catalog for all the UC campuses and other research collections in the state).
See also the IMF Publications homepage for a great search engine for publications listed below.
Annual Report of the Executive Board . Overview of IMF activities each year with detailed fiscal data of IMF operations in the appendices.
Article IV Staff Reports. Country "surveillance reports" conducted by IMF missions teams on an ongoing basis for all member states, and reports made in response to states' requests to borrow funds. Not all reports are made public.
Country Policy Intention Documents. Documents prepared by countries outlining policy intentions for use of Fund resources or staff-monitored programs. Includes several subseries: policy framework papers, poverty reduction strategy papers, etc.
Country Reports. Rich source of information by country: see especially the statistical appendices.
Economic Issues. Non technical papers written on economic research being conducted by the IMF.
Finance and Development.
Quarterly magazine of the IMF with articles and book reviews on topics in international economics, finance, and
economic development.
Financial Statistics
- International Financial Statistics
- World Economic Outlook Databases
- Direction of Trade Statistics
- Balance of Payments Statistics. Available on the CD ROM Network.
- Government Finance Statistics. Available on the CD ROM Network.
Global Financial Stability Report. Biennial report focusing on international capital markets and other market issues: investment banks, securities firms, hedge funds, insurance companies, pension funds, etc. Preceded by International Capital Markets.
IMF Research Bulletin. Key components of research done at the IMF and with a listing of
research documents and activities.
IMF Staff Papers. Economic journal issued three times a year focusing on theoretical and empirical analysis of macroeconomic issues.
IMF Survey. Topical newsletter on IMF activities in the context of world economic and financial developments.
IMF Working Papers. Large series of papers dating from 1997 on a wide range of topics: balance of payments, monetary and fiscal issues, global liquidity etc.
Policy Discussion Papers. IMF non-technical papers in the areas of policy design: designed for persons outside the IMF interested in policy issues.
World Economic Outlook. IMF survey usually published twice a year, presenting IMF staff economists' analyses of global economic developments during the near and medium term. Includes an extensive statistical appendix.