ABSTRACT
A request for Fund assistance can come either at the initiation of the member country or upon the advice of International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff. The staff of the IMF determine, at headquarters, much of the content of most stand-by arrangements. This input takes place at three levels: background information and analysis of the country's situation, preparation of the briefing paper, and review of the letter of intent agreed upon by the country and the Fund mission. Regarding executive directors' conflicts, suffice it to say that during the 1980s, the United States executive director was generally loyal to the Reagan administration's ideology and pressed for greater liberalization measures in IMF conditionality. Added to the personal and national interests and behavior patterns of executive directors is a broad loyalty across directors to the IMF and its principles. Executive board loyalty to IMF goals and staff recommendations is also inconsistent with political decision-making.
