"This note provides general guidance on the use of the Flexible Credit Line (FCL). After an overview of the instrument, explaining its specific nature, the operational issues are grouped into three areas: • an outline of the process and specific steps that need to be followed if a member expresses interest in an arrangement; • guidance on determining qualification of a member; and • a how-to guide for determining appropriate access levels. The note is an aid to the implementation of the policy and its underlying principles. If there is any instance in which a provision of the guidance note or its implementation conflicts with Board policy, Board policy prevails. It will be revised as needed, for example following relevant policy reviews."

"This note provides general guidance on the use of the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL). After an overview of the instrument, explaining its specific nature, the operational issues are grouped into five areas: • an outline of the process and specific steps that need to be followed if a member expresses interest in an arrangement; • guidance on access, phasing, and purchases; • guidance on determining qualification of a member and appropriate ex-post conditionality; and • a guide to the semi-annual review process. The note is an aid to the implementation of the policy and its underlying principles. If there is any instance in which a provision of the guidance note or its implementation conflicts with Board policy, Board policy prevails. It will be revised as needed, for example following relevant policy reviews."

This note aims to provide guidance on the key principles and considerations underlying the design of Fund-supported programs. The note expands on the previous operational guidance notes on conditionality published over 2003-2014, incorporating lessons from the 2018-19 Review of Conditionality, and other recent key policy developments including the recommendation of the Management’s Implementation Plan in response to Independent Evaluation Office (IEO)’s report on growth and adjustment in IMF-supported programs. The note in particular highlights operational advice to (i) improve the realism of macroeconomic forecast in programs and fostering a more systematic analysis of contingency plans and risks; (ii) improve the focus, depth, implementation, and tailoring of structural conditions (SCs), with due consideration of growth effects; and (iii) help strengthen the ownership of country authorities. Designed as a comprehensive reference and primer on program design and conditionality in an accessible and transparent manner, the note refers in summary to a broad range of economic and policy considerations over the lifecycle of Fund-supported programs. As with all guidance notes, the relevant IMF Executive Board Decisions remain the primary legal authority on matters covered in this note.

The note updates and replaces the prior guidance on SMPs, provided in 2003, incorporating changes to the Fund’s lending strategy, and clarifies some operational issues to better guide staff on the use and design of SMPs, while safeguarding even-handed application. Noteworthy changes include clarity on the role of SMPs, specifying the start and end dates of SMPs, clarifying the expected length of SMPs and track record periods, and extensions of SMPs. While many policies are clarified, the principle of flexibility is maintained.

The Fund’s precautionary toolkit rests on the simple proposition that facilitating crisis prevention is far less costly than crisis resolution. Its value increases with systemic risk. Serial shocks to the global trading and financial systems pose significant and persistent headwinds for well-integrated emerging markets. An adequately funded global financial safety net (GFSN) with a suite of precautionary tools allows qualifying members to respond to balance of payments (BoP) shocks, reducing the incidence of crises and limiting contagion. The Fund is the only layer of the GFSN available to all members; other layers vary in their availability and externalities. In this context, the overarching objective of this review of the Flexible Credit Line (FCL), Short-term Liquidity Line (SLL), and Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL) is to ensure that the precautionary facilities toolkit (henceforth “the toolkit”) is fit for purpose for the challenges ahead.

The 2000-02 comprehensive review of the Fund’s conditionality culminated in the adoption of a set of conditionality guidelines by the Executive Board on September 25, 2002. The 2002 Conditionality Guidelines (the “guidelines”) replace the 1979 Conditionality Guidelines and the Interim Guidance Note on Streamlining Structural Conditionality of September 18, 2000. A review of experience with the guidelines, looking at how they have been implemented and at their impact, is conducted periodically; summary statistics on conditionality have been prepared annually since 2008.

This note provides general guidance on the operationalization of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) for arrangement requests and reviews. The RSF complements the existing IMF lending toolkit by providing longer-term, affordable financing to members to help them address longer-term structural challenges from climate change and pandemic preparedness. The note has benefited from experience gained during early operationalization of the RSF.

This review of the Flexible Credit Line (FCL), the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL), and the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) focuses on four key issues: (i) the demand for the FCL and PLL in the context of the broader role of the Fund’s lending (including precautionary) instruments in the global financial safety net (GFSN); (ii) the qualification/conditionality framework for the FCL and the PLL; (iii) concerns about repeated usage of FCL arrangements by the same members and consideration of ways to further improve the transparency in the discussion of access/exit in the underlying staff documents; and (iv) the lack of demand for the RFI.

This note provides updated general guidance on the use of the Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI). The PCI is a non-financing instrument designed for countries that, at the time of the PCI request, are seeking to unlock financing from sources other than the Fund and/or to demonstrate a commitment to a reform agenda. Since its establishment in 2017 as part of the Fund’s work on the Global Financial Safety Net, the PCI has been used by several members. These experiences helped establish and refine best practices, which are reflected in this updated operational guidance note together with changes to the PCI policy approved by the Executive Board on October 4, 2023. The note covers operational issues in a broad range of areas such as purpose, objectives, eligibility, modalities, applicability of UFR-related and other relevant policies, design of a PCI-supported program, conditionality framework, review schedule , and a comparison with other lending instruments. The note is an aid to the implementation of the PCI policy and its underlying principles. If there is any instance in which a provision of the guidance note or its implementation conflicts with the policy approved by the Board, the PCI policy shall prevail.

The Background Notes in this Supplement provide essential context and analysis needed to understand the problem of governance and corruption, its impact on the economies of Fund members, and the history and nature of Fund engagement on these issues. They also seek to support the assessment of the Fund’s overall approach to promoting good governance and reducing corruption—including through the lenses of key stakeholders—with a view to identifying strength and closing any remaining gaps.