The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was designed to offer temporary financial assistance to member countries experiencing balance of payments difficulties. However, for a relatively large number of countries the use of IMF resources became prolonged; the Philippines was an extreme example of this. In sharp contrast, since 2000 the Philippines has made no further use of IMF resources and has graduated from the Fund. This article investigates the reasons underpinning graduation in the case of the Philippines and discovers that not only did changed economic circumstances moderate the need to borrow from the IMF, but also political factors made incumbent governments more reluctant to turn to the Fund. Drawing on the Philippines as a case study, the article extracts more general lessons relating to graduation and raises the issue of whether graduation is always desirable. Although a number of studies have examined the prolonged use of IMF resources in considerable depth, up to now the phenomenon of graduation has been largely ignored. This article aims to fill a gap in the academic literature.