Since early 2009, the Fund has had significantly greater resources to lend to countries in trouble, to cushion the blow of crisis, and to offer a form of international circuit-breaker when it looks like the lights might otherwise go out. The idea is not to prevent necessary adjustments – for example, in the form of budget-deficit reduction – but to spread them out over time, to restore confidence, and to serve as an external seal of approval on a government’s credibility.