AFRAI Consultation Files

23302

1970-1990

series

textual records

45.5 linear feet of textual records

English

Consultation missions, Consultation with members, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Union of the, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Congo, Republic of, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of, Ethiopia, The Federal Democratic Republic of, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Lesotho, Kingdom of, Liberia, Madagascar, Republic of, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Islamic Republic of, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Republic of, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Democratic Republic of, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swaziland, Kingdom of, , Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Series is open according to the Archives Access Policy. Files will be screened by reference staff for any time restrictions. Closed files and items from this series are in Box 92.

Series consists of files generated by the Africa Department as it undertook activities for consultations with member countries as required by Article IV. Article IV establishes the IMF's mandate to conduct firm surveillance over the exchange rate policies of member countries and prescribes the member's adherence to the obligations laid out in the Article. Consultation missions were carried out also under Articles XIV and VIII up until 1977, but under Article IV from 1978 onwards. These article consultations were sometimes combined with other missions related to the use of Fund resources and Stand-By Arrangements. The files are arranged alphabetically by country and then chronologically. Records consist of: memoranda; correspondence; questionnaires (blank); draft and final briefing papers; agendas and minutes of meetings; staff reports; and Executive Board documents such as discussion, decision, statements and chairman's summing up papers. Memoranda were typically circulated internally within the Fund, between or within the Department and other IMF staff, including the Managing Director and other department heads. Correspondence, such as letters and cables, was exchanged between the Department - or other IMF staff with copies to the Department - and the government or central bank of member countries. Correspondence ranges from cables confirming travel arrangements and participants in mission to substantive letters about the goals of the mission. Questionnaires were sent to member countries in order to solicit up-to-date data. Briefing papers were prepared by the Department for review by other departments and ultimate approval by management. Meetings during the mission were held mainly between the IMF and government and central bank officials. IMF staff also met with private investors, labor representatives, and civil society organizations as well. Staff reports summarize the results of the mission and were submitted to the Executive Board which concluded the consultation process (save for follow-up activities) by issuing statements, a summing-up, and decisions. Staff reports and Board discussions often have notes by AFR staff handwritten in the margins.