SINGAPORE, Jan 11: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will become more flexible in its requirements and will take into account “realistic” political conditions in borrowing nations, chief spokesman Thomas Dawson said on Friday.

The comments came after criticism the fund prescribes bitter medicine that worsens, rather than improves, the condition of countries needing its financial bailouts.

Dawson, the director for external relations at the IMF, also refuted allegations the fund has failed to learn from the lessons of the Asian financial crisis in 1997-1998 and was to blame for the crisis in Argentina.

Certainly in a numerical sense, we certainly believe that we have fewer conditions in programmes than previously, he told reporters after a speech at the American Chamber of Commerce here.

We are attempting to prioritise them and focus on those that are more important for the macro performance, and work with the government on a better sense of what the political realism is.

Such conditions will be “better targeted and politically realistic” with the aim of becoming more effective, he said.

The IMF helped organised a multi-billion-dollar bailout for countries hammered by the financial crisis that swept East Asia in 1997 and 1998.

However, there were criticisms the structural reforms and belt-tightening measures it was seeking in return for the aid were too sweeping, went beyond its mandate and led to more hardship for the nations concerned.—AFP