The IMF and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
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Overview
- Member countries of the United Nations (UN) adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 with full support from the IMF.
- The SDGs are global development targets that will guide the global development agenda through 2030.
- The SDGs replaced the Millennium Development Goals and are broader in scope, reflecting the view that development needs to be economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable.
- There are 17 SDGs focused on five elements: people, planet, peace, prosperity, and partnership.
- Achieving the SDGs will require action at the national and international levels.
- Last updated was in April 2025.
What the IMF is doing on SDGs
- The IMF has launched a number of initiatives to enhance support for its member countries as they pursue the SDGs.
- The IMF has helped low-income and emerging market economies assess the additional spending required to reach the SDGs in five key sectors: health, education, water and sanitation, roads, and electricity.
- A Staff Discussion Note presented a macroeconomic framework that helps assess development strategies and financing options for meeting the SDGs and is developing a user tool based on this framework.
- The IMF expanded financial support for low-income developing countries in 2015, 2019, and more recently during the COVID-19 pandemic, made IMF lending under the Rapid Credit Facility permanently interest-free, and extended the zero percent interest rate to all other IMF concessional loans.
- The IMF has supported developing countries seeking to boost domestic revenue mobilization, including by collaborating with other international organizations through the Platform for Collaboration on Tax.
- The IMF has helped member countries improve infrastructure governance:
- Over 80 Public Investment Management Assessments (PIMA) have been conducted.
- The new Climate-PIMA to help governments build climate-resilient infrastructure has been rolled out.
- Working with development partners, the IMF is supporting the “G20 Compact with Africa” to promote private investment, including for infrastructure, in Africa.
- The IMF, with the World Bank, has refined its debt sustainability assessments for low-income countries to better guide their borrowing decisions and keep public debt on a sustainable path.
Integration of development research into IMF operations
- When important to sustain macroeconomic stability, the IMF has been integrating research findings on development issues into its operational work on topics such as:
- the role of diversification and structural transformation in sustained growth in developing countries;
- the policies needed to strengthen infrastructure in a cost-effective manner;
- support for financial deepening;
- policies to boost agricultural productivity;
- encouraging sustainable growth and macroeconomic stability by promoting policies that widen access to jobs, financial services, and other aspects of the economy;
- reforming energy and carbon pricing and supporting countries to enhance their resilience to climate-related events.
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