To meet the demands of the 21st century, our international financial architecture requires urgent renovation.
The cornerstone of the architecture is paradoxically the piece that is now missing. Within the arcane and little understood policies of the IMF there is a concept of “financing assurances” that must be given before the IMF executive board can approve an IMF program and disburse funds. As a lender of last resort that is funded globally through taxpayer money, the fund must be assured that the country in question has a financing plan for the program period and will not use IMF funds to satisfy other creditors.
