IMF moves to unshackle programme countries' monetary policy

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has taken a little-noticed but important step to free up central banks in IMF-programme countries from outmoded constraints on their monetary policies, in a move commentators are describing as welcome but long overdue.

In a bid to revamp the conditionality framework for monetary policy that comes with IMF loans under Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust and General Resources Account-supported programmes, the Fund moved at the end of March to do away with the d