## Press Release: IMF Executive Board Approves New Conditionality Guidelines

_IMF News, September 26, 2002_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Press Release: IMF Executive Board Approves New Conditionality Guidelines](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr0243)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr0243/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr0243/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr0243/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Published: September 26, 2002

---

### Summary
- Press Release No. 02/43
- Date: September 26, 2002
- The Executive Board of the IMF approved new guidelines on the design and implementation of conditionality in Fund-supported programs.
- The guidelines represent the culmination of a comprehensive and far-reaching review of conditionality launched two years ago.
- This is the first revision of the IMF's conditionality guidelines since 1979.

### Background and process
- Revision process was initiated by Managing Director Horst Köhler after taking up his position in May 2000.
- The review received the firm backing of the Board of Governors at the September 2000 Prague Annual Meetings.
- The guidelines were developed after seeking input from civil society and public forums held in several countries.
- The Executive Board discussed a series of staff papers on the topic over the past two years before considering the actual guidelines.
- A note by IMF staff providing additional explanation and context for the conditionality guidelines was released along with the guidelines.

### Objectives and overarching aims
- Streamline and focus conditionality to enhance the success and effectiveness of Fund-supported programs.
- Promote national ownership of reforms.
- Improve interaction between the Fund and borrowing countries to promote sustainable growth and development.

### Guiding principles emphasized
- National ownership of policy reforms.
- Parsimony in the application of program-related conditions.
- Tailoring of programs to the member's circumstances.
- Clarity in the specification of conditions.
- Establish a clearer division of labor with other international institutions, especially the World Bank.

### Criteria and types of conditionality
- The guidelines introduce specific criteria for deciding whether conditions are appropriate in each case.
- Structural conditionality is regarded as an important element of Fund-supported programs, provided it is critical to achieving the macroeconomic objectives of the program.
- The guidelines specify roles for different types of program-related conditions, including:
  - performance criteria
  - structural benchmarks
  - prior actions

### Roles, responsibilities, and national ownership
- An essential aspect of the IMF view of conditionality is that the member country should take primary responsibility for its own policies.
- Documents setting out the country's reform agenda should be drafted as much as possible by the authorities rather than by Fund staff.
- The Executive Board agreed that properly designed conditionality can complement and reinforce national ownership.

*Source: IMF Press Release, September 26, 2002*

---


## References

- [Press Releases](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)
- [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)
- [new guidelines](https://www.imf.org/External/np/pdr/cond/2002/eng/guid/092302.htm)
- [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr0243_