To this end, the Fund has developed a set of standards regarding the quality, coverage, frequency, and timeliness of data made available to the public and has established a Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board on the Internet to which 43 economies have now subscribed, including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Procedures have also been put in place through which countries can make known to the markets, and to the public in general, the Fund’s views on their economic policies and situation. Recognizing the importance for growth of creating an environment that encourages private sector activity, the Fund has also become more active -- in close collaboration with the World Bank, regional development banks, and others -- in promoting the “second generation” reforms that I referred to earlier. These include developing an institutional framework that will, among other things, provide an efficient, professional justice system, help limit arbitrary and corrupt government practices, and set clear regulatory and supervisory standards for markets, including financial markets. They also include policies to improve the quality of public expenditure, making adequate allocations for education and health to help ensure that individuals are able to realize their potential to participate actively in a market economy, and providing social protection to those who bear the brunt of the changes of a dynamic economy. Third, the Fund has taken action on several fronts to strengthen its resource base and adapt its procedures and financing facilities.

In order to detect financial tensions as early as possible, we have sought to make our dialogue with member countries more continuous and probing and put more emphasis on the continuous and timely provision of accurate data. We are also concentrating more on policies decided at a regional level, on the regional implications of national economic policies, on banking and financial sector soundness, and on the policies and institutions that sound financial systems require. BIS Review 111/1997  Second, we are doing what we can to help markets function more smoothly. Considerable progress has been made in liberalising current account transactions worldwide so that countries can take advantage of the opportunities offered by the expansion of world trade. Now, we must turn our attention to fostering an orderly liberalization of capital account transactions, so that countries can also reap the benefits of global capital markets, while minimizing their risks. To this end, IMF members have agreed that the Fund’s charter should be amended to make the liberalization of capital movements one of the purposes of the Fund and to extend the Fund’s jurisdiction to capital movements, with appropriate safeguards, including transitional arrangements, to ensure that liberalization is neither premature nor unduly delayed. At the same time, the IMF is actively encouraging all countries to be transparent about their economic performance by improving the dissemination of economic and financial data to the public. Greater transparency will help strengthen market discipline and avoid market surprises that can lead to disruptive market reactions.