Programs

The IMF Programs Dataset records participation in IMF lending programs in 1952–2025. The raw dataset lists 1,693 arrangements and outright purchases for 162 IMF members, with their facilities, dates, and amounts. Most come from the IMF’s History of Lending Commitments page; the other 102 come from IMF press releases, Executive Board documents, and other IMF publications. The panel dataset turns 1,428 of these arrangements into yearly indicators for 202 independent states: months under a program, and whether one was in force, for all, concessional, and non-concessional programs. The codebook explains how the data were collected and built.

At a glance

Coverage
1952–2025; 202 independent states
Version
October 2026
Unit of observation
Arrangement or outright purchase (raw dataset); country-year (panel dataset)
Status
Available

Downloads

  • Codebook (IMFMonitor_Programs_Codebook.pdf)
    PDF · 414 KB · October 2026
    Download
  • Raw dataset (IMFMonitor_Programs_Raw.xlsx)
    One row per arrangement or outright purchase: IMF member, facility, dates, and amounts, from IMF data as of 30 September 2026.
    Excel (.xlsx) · 117 KB · October 2026
    Download
  • Panel dataset (IMFMonitor_Programs_Panel.xlsx)
    One row per independent state per year: months under an IMF program, and whether one was in force, for all, concessional, and non-concessional programs.
    Excel (.xlsx) · 912 KB · October 2026
    Download
  • Scraper script (IMFMonitor_Programs_Code_00_Webscraper.R)
    Builds the raw dataset from the IMF’s History of Lending Commitments page. Provided for transparency: it takes the latest IMF data, so a run today may differ.
    R script · 70 KB · October 2026
    Download
  • Panel build script (IMFMonitor_Programs_Code_01_BuildPanel.R)
    Builds the panel dataset from the raw dataset and the World Bank’s country list, which it downloads when run.
    R script · 81 KB · October 2026
    Download

How to cite

Stubbs, T. (2026). IMF Programs Dataset, 1952–2025 (Version: October 2026). IMF Monitor. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/V4V1BA

Figures

Line chart of the number of states with an IMF program in force each year from 1952 to 2025, for all programs, concessional programs, and non-concessional programs. The total rises from 2 in 1952 to a peak of 75 in 1996, falls to 41 in 2007 and 40 in 2018, and stands at 55 in 2025. Concessional programs begin in 1986 and outnumber non-concessional ones in every year from 1997 to 2015.
Figure 1: States with an IMF program in force at any time in the year, 1952–2025, from the panel dataset. A state can have a concessional and a non-concessional program in the same year, so those two lines can add up to more than all programs. No concessional program was in force before 1986, so until then the lines for all programs and non-concessional programs coincide. Rapid disbursements and outright purchases are left out.

Publications using the data

Version history

October 2026

Replaces the hand-coded June 2020 file with a dataset built by two R scripts from the IMF’s History of Lending Commitments page, with 102 arrangements and outright purchases that the page does not show added from other IMF sources. Coverage extends from 1980–2019 to 1952–2025, and a new panel dataset gives yearly program participation indicators for every independent state. The dataset has its own codebook. The indicators have the same names as the 21 in the March 2026 Conditionality release, but are built from the new data and count months differently: a program in force from March to September of one year now counts as seven months, not six.

Current release: its files are under Downloads.

June 2020

Coded by hand from IMF documents: 1,284 arrangements in 144 countries, approved from April 1978 to December 2019. It was offered with the March 2026 Conditionality release, whose codebook lists its variables.

  • Programs dataset (v2020-06_IMFMonitor_Programs.xlsx)
    Excel (.xlsx) · 150 KB
    Download