L’encadrement juridique de la conditionnalité des accords de confirmation du Fonds monétaire international The Legal Formulation of the Conditionality of the International Monetary Fund's Stand-By Agreements

Abstract

The International Monetary fund agrees on stand-by agreements with a large number of countries of the world, allowing these countries to obtain substantial lines of credit. These agreements are made up of a group of conditions, where the generic term "conditionality" originates. This notion has been all the more legally formulated since the Fund's decision taken on March 2"^d, 1979. The author of this article looks into each one of the 12 paragraphs and underlying principles that constitute the decision. Afterwards, the author examines paragraph 3 in detail, which enacts that these stand-by agreements are not international agreements, and analyses the reasons motivating such a decision on behalf of the Fund. The author also deals with the underlying issue of the legal type of international convention that a stand-by agreement may constitute: the "gentleman's agreement" or the unilateral mandatory declaration or the unenforceable agreement. Finally, the text ends with the review of the principal sanctions linked to the infringement of the stand-by agreement standards.