The International Monetary Fund’s guidelines for program design are more salient than ever, given widespread debt distress in developing countries. As the Fund undertakes its first major evaluation since 2019, it should focus on three features of its lending, all of which need to be reformed.
NEW YORK—The International Monetary Fund is conducting a Review of Program Design and Conditionality, its first major evaluation since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. With so many countries suffering from macroeconomic imbalances and debt distress that are severely weakening their development prospects, the IMF guidelines for program design, while always important, are more salient than ever.
