The IMF’s Exceptional Access Policy: It’s Not Working

On December 12, 2024, the IMF’s Internal Evaluation Office (IEO) released its evaluation of the IMF’s exceptional access policy. Over the years, the IEO has delivered a number of well-informed and – on occasion – sharply critical evaluations of the IMF’s activities, accompanied by recommendations that have had a meaningful impact on the IMF’s reform agenda. Given the central role that the exceptional access policy plays in the IMF’s lending activities, this evaluation is a particularly important one. The IEO’s analysis of the application of the exceptional policy amply supports its conclusion that the policy has not achieved its central objective. While many of the IEO’s recommendations make sense, one of them – the introduction of an exceptional circumstances clause – is very problematic. This note advocates for an additional reform feature, one designed to safeguard the IMF’s catalytic role, while preserving flexibility. Specifically, it calls for the establishment of hard ex ante limits on exceptional access in "grey zone" cases; i.e., in those cases where the IMF does not have full confidence in the sustainability of the member’s debt.