IMF surveillance scanner to be launched this summer
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Article summary
The scanner is designed to enable civil society groups to find key themes in IMF policy and better track the political implications of its recommendations in the areas of fiscal policy, austerity, gender, tax, climate, social protection and financialisaton.
The Bretton Woods Project is designing a new tool for civil society organisations (CSOs) and researchers to access data on the IMF’s activities in surveillance, which has a very significant impact on the macroeconomic, social and labour policies of countries (see Inside the Institutions, IMF Surveillance).
The updated Article IV Scanner, to be launched this summer, will be free-to-use and enable civil society to find key themes in IMF policy, identify trends in Fund policy advice and better track the political implications of its recommendations, for example, its consistent policy advice on fiscal consolidation.
Using a taxonomy designed by and for CSOs and a combination of AI and human research, the new site will categorise the Fund’s reports (which it calls Article IV reports) by policy areas relevant to CSO interests encompassing issues such as fiscal policy, austerity, gender, tax, climate, social protection and financialisaton. It will also allow searches to be refined by country, region and time period. The tool has been designed with the aim to provide an accessible and robust ongoing evidence base that CSOs can use at country level and in global advocacy.
