From the Intro: Following the commitment of all participants in the Monterrey Consensus to increase the voice and participation of developing countries and transition economies in the Breton Woods Institutions, the issue of governance has come to the fore of the IMF and World Bank. The Monterrey commitment was renewed in the IMFC and Development Committee communiqués of April 12 and 13, 2003, and reflected in recent administrative steps to strengthen the capacity of African constituencies.

Moreover, since 1997, following the Executive Board’s approval of the Guidance Note on Governance, the IMF has increased its attention to issues of governance issues among its member countries. The promotion of transparency and accountability are at the core of the IMF’s efforts to ensure the efficient use of public resources, as well as the domestic ownership of IMF-supported reform programs. In recent years the IMF has developed instruments to help countries identify potential weaknesses in their institutional and regulatory frameworks that could give rise to poor governance, and to design and implement remedial measures to an extent well beyond what was envisaged in 1997.