By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Three (3) Euro Area countries, Greece, Ireland and Portugal reported to be hit particularly hard by the global financial crisis got 90 percent (90%) of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) financing in 2013.

This is contained in the Fund’s 2013 Annual Report: Promoting a More Secure and Stable Global Economy.

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director (MD) of the IMF said financing continued to be an important source of support for member countries during the year, as the effects of the global financial crisis persisted and some countries in the euro area remained vulnerable.

“A substantial part of the financing—90 percent—went to three euro area countries (Greece, Ireland, and Portugal) hit particularly hard by the crisis,” she said.

According to Lagarde, the Fund’s Executive Board approved 14 new or augmented arrangements during the year, for a total of US$113.9 billion; “nine (9) of these arrangements were on a concessional basis to low-income members under the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust,” Lagarde said.

She affirmed that the IMF also took steps to ensure the adequacy of its resources for providing such financing, including approval of a strategy to ensure sustainability of the Trust over the longer term.

In her foreword to the IMF’s Annual Report 2013, Lagarde said decisive actions by policymakers during the year successfully defused the most immediate risks to the global economy, but global growth remains too weak and too uneven, while in far too many countries, improvements in financial markets have not translated into improvements in the real economy—and in the lives of people.

“There is a need for concerted action for which the IMF shares responsibility with its 188 member countries” she said.

According to the report, during the year, the IMF took steps to reform its core responsibility of surveillance—its oversight of member countries’ economic and financial policies—according to priorities identified in a triennial review conducted in 2011.

She said most notable was a decision on bilateral and multilateral surveillance adopted in July 2012, to better integrate IMF monitoring of the global economy with its oversight of country economies. “It also adopted a strategy for financial surveillance to improve risk identification, strengthen instruments for integrated policy responses to risks, and improve impact by boosting its engagement with stakeholders,” Lagarde said.

The IMF’s Boss further affirmed that in the area of capacity building, a new Institute for Capacity Development was formed by the integration of two existing IMF units during the year.

Also, the institution finalized an agreement with the government of Mauritius to establish a regional training center there.

“Preparations also began for the opening of a new regional technical assistance center in West Africa. As in recent years, the majority of the IMF’s technical assistance continued to be provided to its low- and middle-income members; its training programs, supported by external donors and training partners, continued to enjoy a healthy level of demand among middle-income members in particular,” she said.

Click on this link to read IMF’s Annual Report 2013