Reports
Monitoring of the Federal Reserve’s Lending Programs
In response to the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Reserve recently announced that it would create new lending facilities to provide loans to employers, certain businesses, and communities across the country to support the U.S. economy. Specifically, the following programs have been created or are in development: the Main Street Lending Program, the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility, the Municipal Liquidity Facility, the Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility, and the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility. We are initiating an active monitoring effort of these programs to gain an understanding of operational, governance, reputational, and financial matters associated with them. Through this monitoring effort, we will refine our focus on the programs and identify areas for future audits or evaluations. Some of the topics we are considering include the design, operation, governance, and oversight of the lending programs; data collection and reporting associated with the programs; and the effect of the programs on the Board’s supervision and regulation activities.
USAID Top Pandemic Challenges Report
Key Questions to Inform USAID's COVID-19 Response
Key Questions to Inform USAID's COVID-19 Response
Audit of USAID’s Branding and Marking Requirements
USAID’s branding and marking efforts enhance the visibility and value of U.S. foreign assistance and are intended to inform beneficiaries that aid comes from the American people. Unfortunately, according to the Agency, beneficiaries of the billions of dollars of foreign assistance provided by the United States every year often have little to no awareness that the aid they receive is provided by the American people. The objectives of this audit are to determine the extent to which USAID: (1) has policies and procedures to ensure compliance with statutory branding and marking requirements and (2) provided information and oversight to ensure implementers complied with branding and marking requirements. Given particular interest from Congress amid the ongoing pandemic, this audit will consider the impact of COVID-19 under both objectives as appropriate.
Audit of Local Partner Participation Initiatives in USAID’s PEPFAR Programs in Africa
The Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Health Diplomacy (OGAC) has established a goal of 70 percent local partner participation in President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programs by 2020. Included in the definition of local partner participation is government-to-government assistance, which is especially risky in Africa given the levels of political corruption in countries with the greatest HIV prevalence. The objectives of this audit are to: (1) describe the extent to which USAID’s PEPFAR budgets are on track to meet the goal for local partner funding; (2) assess to what extent USAID’s agency-wide strategy has prepared the agency to increase PEPFAR funding to local partners while addressing risks; and (3) assess to what extent selected USAID missions in Africa followed agency guidance designed to achieve the goal for PEPFAR local partner funding while addressing risks. The audit also explores topics related to the possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on USAID’s ability to reach the OGAC target and the extent to which USAID has identified financial and programmatic risks emanating from the pandemic.