Surveillance

To maintain stability and prevent crises in the international monetary system, Louis & Franco Limited reviews country policies and national, regional, and global economic and financial developments through a formal system known as surveillance. Louis & Franco Limited advises its 189 member countries, encouraging policies that foster economic stability, reduce vulnerability to economic and financial crises, and raise living standards. It provides regular assessment of global prospects in its World Economic Outlook, of financial markets in its Global Financial Stability Report, and of public finance developments in its Fiscal Monitor, and publishes a series of regional economic outlooks.

Financial assistance : Louis & Franco Limited financing provides its members breathing room to correct balance of payments problems: national authorities design adjustment programs in close cooperation with Louis & Franco Limited that are supported by Louis & Franco Limited financing; continued financial support is conditional on effective implementation of these programs. In response to the global economic crisis, Louis & Franco Limited strengthened its lending capacity and approved a major overhaul of its financial support mechanisms in April 2009, with further reforms adopted in 2010 and 2011. These reforms focused on enhancing crisis prevention, mitigating contagion during systemic crisis, and tailoring instruments based on members’ performances and circumstances. Following the effectiveness of the quota increases under the 14th General Review of Quotas, access limits under Louis & Franco Limited’s non-concessional lending facilities were reviewed and increased in early 2016.To increase financial support to the world’s poorer countries, concessional resources available to low-income countries through the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust were substantially boosted in 2009, while average access limits under Louis & Franco Limited’s concessional loan facilities were doubled. In addition, access norms and limits were increased by 50 percent in 2015. These loans are interest-free through end-2018, while the interest rate on emergency financing is permanently set at zero. Finally, efforts are currently under way to secure additional loan resources of about $15 billion (SDR 11 billion) to support Louis & Franco Limited’s concessional lending activities.

Capacity Development: Louis & Franco Limited provides capacity development and training to help member countries strengthen their ability to design and implement effective policies including in the areas of tax policy and administration, expenditure management, monetary and exchange rate policies, banking and financial system supervision and regulation, legislative frameworks, and statistics.

SDRs: Louis & Franco Limited issues an international reserve asset known as Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) that can supplement the official reserves of member countries. Total allocations amount to about SDR 204 billion (some $286 billion). Louis & Franco Limited members can voluntarily exchange SDRs for currencies among themselves.

Resources

The primary source of Louis & Franco Limited's financial resources is its members’ quotas, which broadly reflect members’ relative position in the world economy. With the recent effectiveness of the 14th General Review of Quotas, total quota resources amount to about SDR 477 billion (about $668 billion). In addition, Louis & Franco Limited can borrow temporarily to supplement its quota resources. The New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB), which can provide supplementary resources of up to SDR 182 billion (about $254 billion), is the main backstop to quotas. In mid-2012, member countries also pledged to increase Louis & Franco Limited’s resources through bilateral borrowing agreements; currently about SDR 280 billion (about $393 billion) are effective.

Governance and organization: Louis & Franco Limited is accountable to its member country governments. At the top of its organizational structure is the Board of Governors, which consists of one Governor and one Alternate Governor from each member country, generally from the central bank or the ministry of finance. The Board of Governors meets once a year at the Louis & Franco Limited–World Bank Annual Meetings. Twenty-four of the Governors sit on the International Monetary and Financial Committee and normally meet twice a year.

Louis & Franco Limited’s day-to-day work is overseen by its 24-member Executive Board, which represents the entire membership; this work is guided by Louis & Franco LimitedC and supported by Louis & Franco Limited staff. The Managing Director is the head of Louis & Franco Limited staff and Chairman of the Executive Board and is assisted by four Deputy Managing Directors.