## Designing Expenditure Policy Conditionality in IMF-Supported Programs

_IMF Working Papers, January 24, 2025_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Designing Expenditure Policy Conditionality in IMF-Supported Programs](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2025/01/23/designing-expenditure-policy-conditionality-in-imf-supported-programs-561194)

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Emine Hanedar, Zsuzsa Munkacsi
- Published: January 24, 2025
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400298417.001

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### Summary and Purpose
- Provides granular advice on how to design quantitative and structural conditionality of IMF-supported programs.
- Focuses on six expenditure policy areas: social assistance, energy subsidies, pension spending, health spending, education spending, and wage bill management.
- Emphasizes the role of conditions to identify outcomes or actions seen as critical for program success or monitoring and their importance for financial support countries can receive from the Fund.

### Scope and Methodology
- Based on a stocktaking exercise: an analysis of 105 programs approved between 2002 and July 2021 containing c.a. 1400 conditions.
- Paper type: IMF Working Paper intended to describe research in progress and elicit comments and debate.

### Major Findings (as presented)
- The paper offers granular, area-specific advice for designing quantitative and structural conditionality across six expenditure policy areas.
- Conditions are instrumental to (a) identifying critical outcomes or actions for program success and (b) monitoring progress tied to Fund financial support.

### Policy Guidance and Recommendations (high-level synthesis from source)
- Design conditionality that is granular and tailored to the specific expenditure policy area:
  - Social assistance
  - Energy subsidies
  - Pension spending
  - Health spending
  - Education spending
  - Wage bill management
- Use stocktaking evidence from past programs to inform conditionality design and monitoring frameworks.

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## Content in this bundle

- **Working Paper**
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  - [Working Paper (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/wp/2025/english/wpiea2025022-print-pdf.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2025/01/23/designing-expenditure-policy-conditionality-in-imf-supported-programs-561194_
