IFI Conditionality on Governance

This note looks at the dilemmas faced in the application of conditions on governance by the international financial institutions (IFI) in the course of their lending operations in member states. Governance relates to the activities of governments and other public sector entities in the exercise of their financial and regulatory functions and that bear directly on the proper use of funds provided by the IFI. Given the extensive range of state action, conditions relating to governance can apply to diverse areas, including the allocation of public expenditures and the collection of taxes, the rules affecting procurement of goods and services by public authorities, the effectiveness of the judicial system in enforcing contracts and the arbitration of claims and obligations between governments and all the social entities they deal with.