In this paper we suggest that the dual role played by the IMF, as a creditor and as a monitor of economic reforms, might explain the lack of credibility of the Fund threat of sanctioning non-compliance with conditionality. Specifically, we show that the IMF desire to preserve its reputation as a...

The IMF is entrusted with the twofold task of enforcing conditionality and deciding whether or not to continue financial assistance. In this paper we examine the implications on IMF lending behaviour of the existence of uncertainty about its ability to monitor governments’ actions and to...