IMF should monitor stability: Riksbank's Ingves

"Some argue that we need to develop new institutions to deal with the aftermath of the financial crisis. They are wrong. We already have the IMF," Ingves said on Friday. "With its global membership, it is ideally suited to be a platform for drawing firm conclusions from the crisis on what can be done to prevent such crises in the future."

Ingves's suggestions as to how the Fund could enhance its role centred on an enlargement of its Financial Sector Assessment Programs (FSAP).

"This important instrument assesses countries' vulnerability to financial shocks and provides a valuable analytical base for policy conclusions," the governor, a former IMF staffer, said.

The Fund should make its FSAPs compulsory for all member states, he said, noting that the pressures on advanced economies to undergo these assessments had been less clear. "If the FSAP had been more fully implemented, the IMF would have obtained a more comprehensive picture of the situation at an earlier stage."

Refining the FSAPs to focus also on regions with significant cross-border flows of banking activity would, he said, put regulatory gaps and mismatches in focus.

In order to enhance transparency, Ingves said the Fund should make mandatory the publication if its assessments, including the FSAPs.

Ingves's comments echo those of Fabrizio Saccomanni, the director general of the Bank of Italy, made on Tuesday night. "[The Fund] should have a global role in monitoring financial policies and to look at the factors behind the booms and busts in credit cycles."

Saccomanni also noted that the US was the only member country to not undergo an IMF economic assessment in recent years. "The US objected to the IMF judging whether it was stable or not. I think historians will recognise this [as significant]."

Riksbank liquidity

Separately, the Riksbank on Friday announced plans to issue certificates to soak up excess liquidity.

The certificates will have a time to maturity of seven days. Issues of the new certificate will be made every Tuesday until further notice.

"This is a step in the Riksbank's ongoing actions to assist the smooth functioning of the Swedish financial markets," said Irma Rosenberg, the first deputy governor of the Riksbank.

Click here to read Ingves statement

Click here to read the Rikbank's statement regarding the certificates