IMF Commends Performance of PMA

For Success in Maintaining Financial Stability

In a report presented during the meeting of the Donor Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) in the presence of H.E. Prime Minister Rami Al Hamdallah, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) commended the performance of the PMA in maintaining financial stability. The report pointed out that the PMA has reinforced crisis preparedness and business continuity, which was largely manifested in securing the stability of the banking system during the recent Israeli aggression on Gaza.

The report also noted that, in response to various risks including geopolitical risks, the PMA has significantly expanded its macro-prudential policy toolkit, to include countercyclical capital buffers, dynamic provisioning, dynamic caps on loan-to-value ratios and dynamic leverage ratios. The PMA also continued to improve its stress testing methodology.

Other achievements of the PMA aimed at maintaining financial stability were also mentioned in the report, of which the most important included the launch of a financial inclusion strategy to enhance access to credit for all social segments, and in particular the marginalized, at affordable terms and the expansion of the Credit Registry database to include information about mortgages, lease financing, court rulings and some retail companies and service-providers.

The report alluded to the significance of the new central bank law that will provide for greater independence in the conduct of monetary policy and is expected to appear in its final wording during 2015.