Except in certain limited circumstances, issuers are prohibited from increasing interest rates applied to existing balances. They must also provide adequate notice of higher rates to be applied to future balances and are required to apply payments in excess of minimum payments to the balances that carry the highest interest rate.
In all these cases, unanimity is required for all decisions, not only in the set-up of the scheme, but also in its modification and activation. This is a clear shortcoming. It would be as if the IMF had to gain the unanimous support of its Executive Board to decide on each and every country programme.