The International Monetary Fund said it more frequently agreed to delete information from staff reports in response to member countries’ requests during the global financial crisis and the European debt turmoil.
In a review of its transparency policy, the Washington-based IMF said 17 percent of published staff reports were subject to deletions in 2012, compared with 10 percent before the last review, which was done in 2009. The rate was highest among advanced economies, with a 35 percent average in the 2009-2012 period, according to the report.
“During the crisis, markets have become more volatile, and economies have become more vulnerable to adverse news,” IMF staff wrote. “Members facing vulnerabilities have requested more deletions, and within the group of advanced markets, a large share of the countries requesting the largest number of deletions on grounds of market sensitivity are the European crisis countries.”