IMF Executive Board Concludes the 2026 Review of Program Design and Conditionality
IMF News, September 24, 2026
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- Published: September 24, 2026
Overview and context
- Press Release No. 26/299
- Date: September 24, 2026
- Concluding action: On September 14, 2026, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the 2026 Review of Program Design and Conditionality (ROC).
- Review coverage: Assesses IMF‑supported programs under the General Resources Account (GRA) and the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) during January 2018 and December 2024.
- Review objectives: Draw lessons from program experience and identify areas for strengthening program design and implementation given multiple shocks, evolving financing conditions, implementation capacity, country ownership, and persistent vulnerabilities.
- Basis of findings: Extensive analytical work and initial reform proposals discussed at informal discussions by Executive Directors in October 2025 and April 2026.
Key findings
- Speed and agility: Fund‑supported programs responded with speed and agility to successive major shocks, helping member countries address urgent balance of payments (BOP) needs and avoid excessively sharp pro‑cyclical adjustment.
- Rebuilding buffers: Where adjustment was timely and sustained, countries rebuilt buffers and strengthened macroeconomic fundamentals.
- Challenges to restoring external viability: Restoring medium‑term external viability proved challenging in other cases as new shocks and implementation shortfalls weighed on outcomes.
- Period of shocks: The review period was marked by major global shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical conflicts, and heightened economic uncertainty.
Executive Board assessment — overall stance
- Directors welcomed the ROC and broadly supported the reform proposals as outlined in the staff paper.
- Directors agreed that during 2018‑2024 the Fund responded effectively to successive shocks but noted that resolving BOP problems and restoring medium‑term external viability remained challenging in some cases, especially where shocks were recurring, vulnerabilities were deep seated, or implementation fell short.
- Directors reaffirmed the appropriateness of the 2002 Guidelines on Conditionality and emphasized the need for evenhandedness and tailoring to country circumstances to strengthen program ownership and success.
- Directors welcomed an integrated approach across the ROC, the Comprehensive Surveillance Review, and ongoing capacity development work.
Recommendations to strengthen program design and coherence
- Ground programs in credible macroeconomic and financing assumptions that account for members’ implementation capacity with the objective of resolving BOP problems and restoring medium‑term external viability.
- Fiscal adjustment:
- Fiscal adjustment is essential to restore macroeconomic stability.
- Drawing on program experience, most Directors agreed that adjustment should, where critical to resolving BOP problems and to the extent feasible, be front‑loaded, supported by realistic, high quality, and growth friendly measures, and pay due regard to country circumstances and distributional impacts, particularly in Low‑Income Countries and Fragile and Conflict‑Affected States.
- Many Directors cautioned against a general recommendation for front‑loading adjustment.
- Phasing and access: Emphasize stronger alignment between phasing of access and the pace and depth of reforms.
- Policy mix: Underscore a balanced policy mix, including appropriate roles for monetary, exchange rate, and macro‑financial policies, and more systematic integration of external sector assessments into program design while maintaining needed flexibility.
- Structural conditionality: Pilot a Medium‑Term Structural Reform Strategy focused on reforms critical to resolving the member’s BOP problem, built where feasible on existing country strategies, to help prioritize and sequence structural conditionality, strengthen implementation, and better integrate capacity development.
Building adaptability, risk management, and resilience
- Use risk‑informed baselines complemented by sensitivity and scenario analyses where appropriate, particularly in higher‑risk cases.
- Account for implementation capacity and political economy risks (including electoral dynamics) and strengthen guidance and tracking on the use of political assurances (to be sought on a case‑by‑case basis).
- Strengthen risk‑based and candid contingency planning, tailored in scope and granularity to country circumstances and risks, accompanied by carefully calibrated communications.
- Leverage Enterprise Risk Assessments (ERA) more effectively for cases posing major or critical risks to the Fund to inform discussions of evolving risks, contingent responses, and potential program recalibration.
- Systematically track performance against original targets to assess achievability of program objectives and support timely recalibration and course correction.
- Ensure adjustors preserve appropriate adaptation to evolving circumstances while safeguarding program goals.
- Require credible, well‑specified and transparently monitored corrective actions for missed performance criteria where waivers are granted on that basis.
Enhancing the Fund’s catalytic role and financing realism
- Credible financing strategies: A credible financing strategy, supported by sound and transparent debt management, is critical to program success and the Fund’s catalytic role.
- Embed realistic and consistent assumptions on external and domestic financing in program design and adapt financing plans as conditions evolve, including prudent and nimble use of market‑based financing when conditions permit.
- Incorporate project financing conservatively and transparently in macroeconomic frameworks, consistent with Fund policies.
- Adopt a more risk‑based approach to monitoring senior debt exposures, particularly where debt vulnerabilities are elevated, to help preserve the Fund’s catalytic role over time.
Emphasis on durably resolving BOP problems and program focus
- Core objective: Fund‑supported programs should remain firmly focused on resolving BOP problems and restoring medium‑term external viability.
- Fund financing should support, not substitute for, necessary adjustment and reform; each arrangement should stand on its own merits without an ex‑ante presumption of a follow‑on engagement.
- Avoid program overload by prioritizing measures critical to program objectives; recognize deeper structural reforms require careful sequencing, sustained implementation, and effective collaboration with other international financial institutions.
- End‑program assessments: Welcome more systematic and candid end‑program assessments to strengthen transparency, accountability, and learning.
- LTPE and PRA reforms:
- Support proposed changes to the longer‑term program engagement (LTPE) framework, including expanded coverage to facilitate earlier assessments of prolonged Fund engagement.
- Refocus Peer Reviewed Assessments (PRAs) as Longer‑Term Assessments (LTAs) to draw lessons from past engagement while avoiding duplication with other program tools and frameworks.
- Directors noted the need to avoid stigmatizing follow‑on arrangements driven by repeated shocks or longer‑term challenges.
Implementation approach and next steps
- Phased implementation: Support for a phased implementation strategy focusing initially on updating the Operational Guidance Note and developing new analytical tools and templates for country teams, then shifting to country‑level implementation.
- Near‑term priorities: Develop guidance, tools, and templates and pilot selected reforms before broader rollout.
- Operational Guidance Note: A revised Operational Guidance Note is key for consistent and evenhanded implementation; staff should closely monitor and keep the Board informed on implementation.
- Resource and burden considerations: Implement reforms in a phased, proportionate, and risk‑based manner within the existing budget while enhancing impact and containing administrative burdens, particularly for low‑capacity members.
- Synergies: Welcome synergies with related institutional workstreams.
International Monetary Fund — Press Release No. 26/299, September 24, 2026.