Although a great deal of attention has been paid to IMF conditionality and to the effects of IMF programmes, relatively little attention has been paid to their completion rate. However, the record is that the clear majority of Fund programmes are uncompleted. Is this a cause for concern and why...

The International Monetary Fund was created to centralise the management of the global monetary system. As international financial markets evolved, the richer countries turned to other, more flexible sources of finance and IMF lending became almost exclusively focused on the developing world....