Washington: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Wednesday it will launch a new tool to support governments in financial trouble: one that involves no money. Instead of providing cheap loans to countries, the new IMF tool will serve as a good housekeeping seal of approval for a government’s reform programme. More From Livemint »With that approval in hand, governments would be more likely to be able to access other forms of financing from banks and bond markets, the IMF said in a statement. Rather than providing loans in exchange for strict adherence to a an agreed programme of economic and financial reforms—with performance targets reviewed quarterly—the IMF will focus only on the government’s policy package. The IMF last week revived a rarely-used mechanism under which it approved a one-year loan to Greece but withheld the disbursement of funds until the country receives significant debt relief from its eurozone partners.

Source: Mint July 26, 2017 15:56 UTC