The FY 13–15 Medium-Term Budget presented in this paper reflects the following main features: Unchanged administrative budget in real terms for FY 13. Overall spending (structural plus crisis/temporary) will be kept unchanged in real terms in FY 13 relative to the FY 12 budget (excluding the one-off additional cost of the 2012 Annual Meetings in Tokyo).Broadly unchanged administrative envelope in nominal terms for FY 13. This reflects the impact of the Executive Board’s decision in March to grant no increase in the staff salary structure in the context of the 2012 Compensation Review. The “structure increase” is the main component in the budget deflator applied to map the real total envelope into nominal terms. A capital budget dominated by the impact of the HQ1 Renewal Program. The final appropriation for this project, approved by the Executive Board in March 2011, is reflected in the proposed capital budget for FY 13.

The Fund has been operating under a flat real resource envelope for the past six years. With continued efforts to maximize the use of available resources, spending in FY 17 is projected to reach 99 percent of the net administrative budget, and a low vacancy rate has helped stabilize overtime at 11 percent. Internal savings and reallocations have allowed the Fund to dedicate more resources to country work, including capacity development, without requiring an increase in the approved budget—apart from $6 million provided in FY 17 to cover rising security costs. An unchanged real net administrative budget in FY 18, despite deeper Fund engagement in a number of areas, as well as increased costs for corporate modernization. Accordingly, the budget proposal incorporates significant savings from reallocations and efficiency gains to fund new demands, as well as a further increase in the upfront allocation of carry-forward funds by about $10 million. The broad themes of the proposal are: (i) more intensive country work with a shift from surveillance to programs, but net savings in field offices; (ii) significant policy and analytical work on the financial sector and the role of the Fund (global safety net, facilities, and quotas), albeit less than in FY 17, with more work on structural issues and new challenges; (iii) funding for transforming IT and HR services, offset by central savings; and (iv) enhanced risk mitigation and knowledge management (KM), with the establishment of a KM unit to support cross-country analysis and knowledge transfer. At this stage, a flat resource envelope is assumed also for the medium term, contingent on continued reprioritization and a broadly unchanged global economic environment. Upward pressure on resources will arise from growing capacity development activities and certain revenue losses. Savings are expected from the TransformIT initiative and internal efficiency gains. But for the budget to remain flat, the Fund will need to continuously reprioritize and adjust its activities to make room for new demands. Even then, a more challenging global environment, with a further ramping up of Fund lending, or significant demands for deeper engagement in other areas, would put significant strains on resources over the medium term. The proposed capital budget envelope for FY 18–20 remains broadly unchanged from current levels. Some frontloading, however, is planned for the first two years, due to the cyclical nature of these investments and to accommodate strategic IT projects.

This paper updates the consolidated income and expenditure outlook and the projected accumulation of precautionary balances over the medium-term. The paper incorporates and extends the income and budget projections in the companion papers; these projections are also in line with those discussed in the recent paper on the review of precautionary balances.

The proposed FY 15–17 Medium-Term Budget (MTB) was formulated within the Fund’s strategic planning framework to align allocation of resources to the delivery of institutional priorities.

The proposed FY 14–16 Medium-Term Budget was formulated within the Fund’s strengthened strategic planning framework and seeks to align the allocation of resources to the delivery of institutional priorities. Despite the additional resources that have been provided to meet crisis demands, crisis related work and overall work pressures remain elevated. At the same time, available resources are not being fully utilized. Therefore, the budget strategy—instead of asking for further additional resources—is geared toward making more efficient use of existing resources to reduce work pressures and meet new demands.

This paper reviews the Fund’s income position for FY 2012 and FY 2013?14.1 The paper updates projections provided at the FY 2012 midyear review and proposes decisions for the current and next two financial years. These decisions include setting the margin for the rate of charge under the new Rule I-6(4) that the Executive Board adopted in December 2011.2 The new rule is based on principles endorsed by the Executive Board in April 2008 and that have guided decisions on setting the margin since FY 2009. Section II reviews the FY 2012 income position and main changes from the midyear projections; Section III makes proposals on the disposition of net income, and placement to reserves; Section IV discusses the margin on the rate of charge for FY 2013?14, the income outlook for that period, and projected burden sharing adjustments; and Section V reviews special charges.

"The FY 19 budget proposal is formulated against the backdrop of a strengthening global recovery and broadly balanced near term risks. The budget reflects a solid income position and a multi-year strategic agenda—operationalized in the Global Policy Agenda (GPA) and Board Work Program—to help members take advantage of the current cyclical upswing to bolster growth, harness the benefits of technology for all, while promoting resilience and responding swiftly to requests for program support. The net administrative budget for FY 19 remains unchanged in real terms, save for the extra customary travel allocation for Annual Meetings held abroad. This represents the seventh year in a row of flat real budget envelopes (excluding the 1⁄2 percentage point security related increase in FY 17). The proposal reflects reallocations of some 21⁄2 percent of the net budget. As the expected FY 18 outturn is just below the approved budget, carry-forward resources equivalent to 4 percent of the net budget from earlier years would still be available. Of these, roughly one half ($19 million) has been allocated upfront in the FY 19 budget process. The impact of savings and demands on the Fund’s overall output structure is modest. Fund-financed structural resources are projected to shift slightly from global oversight towards multilateral surveillance as a net result of reallocations from completed to new policy work and reviews, in line with the Board Work Program. Fund-financed country work—bilateral surveillance, lending and capacity development—falls somewhat. Externally financed capacity development (CD) is expected to grow further. Support and governance areas continue to experience structural pressures. The same level of real resources is assumed over the medium-term. However, with medium-term risks to the economic outlook still on the downside, were upside spending pressures to emerge, the flat real budget stance would require a continued ability to find offsetting savings to meet emerging and unforeseen priorities. The capital budget envelope for FY 19 is broadly unchanged from the assumptions in the FY 18–20 Medium-Term Budget. The amounts for the outer years are indicative."