The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to introduce a new grouping of countries to be known as ‘Low Income Developing Countries’ (LIDC) to facilitate enhanced coverage of low income country issues in IMF reports.
At the same time, the new category will serve as a standardised definition of the ‘low income country’ universe in the analytical work to be carried out by IMF staff.
The new category proposed in IMF policy paper has been submitted to the executive board for approval. Pakistan, India and the Philippines have not been included in the LIDC grouping, given that they are typically viewed as ‘emerging market economies’ rather than LIDCs, by market analysts.
