Description

The more severe a financial crisis, the greater has been the likelihood of its management under an IMF - supported program and shorter the time from crisis onset to program initiation. Political links to the United States have raised program likelihood but have prompted faster response mainly for “major” crises. Over time, the IMF’s response has not been robustly faster, but the time sensitivity to th e more severe crises and those related to fixed exchange rate regimes did increase from the mid - 1980s. Similarly, democracies had tended to stall program initiation but have turned supportive of financial markets’ demands for quicker action.