Administración

Good
Governance
The IMF’s Role

INTERNATIONAL

MONETARY

FUND

ISBN 1-55775-690-2
Published August 1997
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G

ood governance isimportant for countries
at all stages of development. . . . Our approach is
to concentrate on those aspects of good governance
that are most closely related to our surveillance over
macroeconomic policies—namely, the transparency
of government accounts, the effectiveness of public
resource management, and the stability and
transparency of the economic and regulatory
environment for privatesector activity.
Michel Camdessus
IMF MANAGING DIRECTOR

Address to the United Nations
Economic and Social Council
July 2, 1997

T

he International Monetary Fund has long provided
advice and technical assistance that has helped to foster good
governance, such as promoting public sector transparency and
accountability. Traditionally the IMF’s main focus has been on
encouragingcountries to correct macroeconomic imbalances,
reduce inflation, and undertake key trade, exchange, and other
market reforms needed to improve efficiency and support
sustained economic growth. While these remain its first order of
business in all its member countries, increasingly the IMF has
found that a much broader range of institutional reforms is
needed if countries are to establish andmaintain private sector
confidence and thereby lay the basis for sustained growth.
Mirroring the greater importance the membership of the IMF
places on this matter, the declaration Partnership for Sustainable
Global Growth that was adopted by the IMF’s Interim Committee at
its meeting in Washington on September 29, 1996, identified
“promoting good governance in all its aspects, includingensuring
the rule of law, improving the efficiency and accountability of the
public sector, and tackling corruption” as an essential element of
a framework within which economies can prosper. The IMF’s
Executive Board then met a number of times to develop guidance
for the IMF regarding governance issues.
The Guidance Note reprinted in this pamphlet, adopted by the
Board in July 1997, reflects thestrong consensus among Executive
Directors on the significance of good governance for economic
efficiency and growth. The IMF’s role in these issues has been
evolving pragmatically as more was learned about the contribution

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that greater attention to governance issues could make to
macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth. Executive
Directors were strongly supportive of therole the IMF has been
playing in this area in recent years. They also emphasized that the
IMF’s involvement in governance should be limited to its
economic aspects.
Taking into account lessons from experience and the Executive
Board’s discussions, the guidelines seek to promote greater
attention by the IMF to governance issues, in particular through:
• A more comprehensive treatment in thecontext of both
Article IV consultations and IMF-supported programs of those
governance issues within the IMF’s mandate and expertise;
• A more proactive approach in advocating policies and the
development of institutions and administrative systems that
eliminate the opportunity for bribery, corruption, and
fraudulent activity in the management of public resources;
• An evenhanded treatment ofgovernance issues in all member
countries; and
• Enhanced collaboration with other multilateral institutions, in
particular the World Bank, to make better use of
complementary areas of expertise.

Jack Boorman
DIRECTOR
POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND
REVIEW DEPARTMENT

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The Role of the IMF in
Governance Issues: Guidance Note
(Approved by the IMF Executive Board, July 25, 1997)

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