Vol. 482 No. 4
90 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Finance the plans, if any, he has to progress the Bretton Woods Agreement (Amendment) Bill to enable an Irish contribution to the International Monetary Fund's enhanced structural adjustment facility. [18328/97]
The International Monetary Fund has arranged to have an evaluation carried out by independent consultants of several aspects of programmes supported by the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF). This external evaluation is complementary to an internal evaluation of ESAF already conducted by the IMF earlier this year. The external evaluation is considering three main topics: developments in countries' external position during ESAF-supported programmes; social policies and the composition of government spending during ESAF-supported programmes; and the determinants and influence of differing degrees of national ownership of ESAF-supported programmes.
I expect that the consultant's report will be completed by the end of 1997. Any decision to proceed with an Irish contribution to ESAF will be taken in the light of the findings of this report and the IMF's response particularly in regard to social sector conditionality.
