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Rich Countries do it Again

Christian World Service (New Zealand) Media Release, 26/04/04. New Zealand aid agencies are angry that the just completed spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank once again offered no hope for the world's poorest peoples. "The rich countries have done it again," said Christian World Service Director, Jonathan Fletcher. "They totally dominate the board of the IMF and the World Bank and control all their monetary resources. They have the capacity to cut the levels of debt that are strangling the economies of many developing countries and to end the economic policies that put theory before people. With their immense financial reserves they could literally save the lives of millions of people. But they don't." In releasing the Global Monitoring Report 2004, the IMF warned that "most developing countries will fail to meet most of the Millennium Development Goals that serve as targets for the global effort to reduce poverty and improve services for the poor by 2015."

http://www.cws.org.nz/News/media-release.asp#WB%20IMF

(Added: Tue Apr 27 2004   Modified: Tue Jun 27 2006   Hits: 248)

IMF selection mess only a symptom

29th March 2004, Bretton Woods Project. The political machinations laid bare by the selection process for the head of the IMF are symptomatic of a troubling democratic deficit in the Bretton Woods institutions. A similar fiasco in 2000 marred the selection of Horst Koehler, prompting the World Bank-IMF joint working group to review the process for selection of the heads in April 2001. Their conclusion was hardly surprising: "A plurality of candidates representing the diversity of members across regions would be in the best interests of the Fund; the goal is to attract the best candidates regardless of nationality."

http://brettonwoodsproject.org/article.shtml?cmd[126]=x-126-42240

(Added: Tue Mar 30 2004   Modified: Wed Jun 15 2005   Hits: 96)

The Process for Choosing a New Managing Director for the IMF

Financial Policy Forum. A selection of links to a range of key statements and articles regarding the selection of the Managing Director for the International Monetary Fund.

http://www.financialpolicy.org/IMFDemocracy/

(Added: Tue Mar 30 2004   Modified: Thu Jun 16 2005   Hits: 134)

Why Reform of the WTO is the Wrong Agenda (PDF)

Focus on the Global South, February 2000. Four essays on four institutions: WTO, UNCTAD, IMF and the World Bank. A compilation of incisive articles that argue for radical change and not mere reform, and a more effective role for UNCTAD. 1. Why reform of the WTO is the wrong agenda 2. UNCTAD : Time to lead, Time to challenge the WTO 3. Jurassic Fund : Should developing countries push to decommission the IMF? 4. The Iron Cage : The WTO, the Bretton Woods Institutions, and the South.

http://www.focusweb.org/publications/Books/why%20reform.htm

(Added: Fri Dec 19 2003   Modified: Tue Aug 15 2006   Hits: 127)

Bolivia and the IMF

Contains IMF press releases and loan data relating to Bolivia

http://www.imf.org/external/country/bol

(Added: Fri Oct 17 2003   Modified: Tue Aug 15 2006   Hits: 124)

Annual and Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group

The Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group (Bank) and the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (Fund) normally meet once a year to discuss the work of their respective institutions. Each Spring, the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee and the joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee hold meetings to discuss progress on the work of the Fund and Bank. This page links to past and upcoming meetings.

http://www.imf.org/external/am/index.htm

(Added: Wed Sep 24 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 27 2006   Hits: 230)

As I Say Not As I Do:A Critique of G-7 Proposals on Reforming the MDBs (PDF)

By Devesh Kapur, Department of Government, Harvard University, April 2002. "This paper focuses on the World Bank and, where necessary, on other MDBs and the IMF. The paper addresses three key issues raised by the G-7: 1. The restructuring of IDA with a part of its lending in the form of grants rather than loans. 2. The volume of support by MDBs for Global Public Goods (GPGs) and the rankings and priorities among them. 3. Harmonization of procedures, policies and overlapping mandates among MDBs."

http://ksghome.harvard.edu/%7E.drodrik.academic.ksg/G24Kapur.pdf

(Added: Mon Sep 01 2003   Modified: Tue Aug 22 2006   Hits: 410)

How the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Undermine Democracy and Erode Human Rights: Five Case Studies

September 2001, published by Global Exchange. Also available as a PDF document (PDF 3.9mb). "The policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have systematically undermined democratic principles and eroded human rights protections in dozens of countries around the globe."

http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/wbimf/imfwbReport2001.html

(Added: Mon Jul 21 2003   Modified: Tue Aug 15 2006   Hits: 444)

Should Capital Controls Have a Place in the Future International Monetary System? (PDF)

John Williamson, Stephany Griffith-Jones, Ricardo Gottschalk, May 2, 2003. Capital account convertibility - the complete elimination of all capital controls - was often treated in the 1990s as an integral element of the market liberalization that was being urged on emerging markets. In the middle of the decade there was even talk of making it an objective of international policy that would be embodied (as a long-term target) in the IMF Articles. The Asian crisis brought sharp disillusionment, and since then opinion has tended to swing back to acceptance that emerging markets may be ill advised to seek the rapid elimination of capital controls. But that has not brought with it any consensus as to the future role of capital controls in the international monetary system. The present paper aims to take stock of this debate. The first section (which is elaborated in an Appendix) reviews the main trends in the use of capital controls over the last decade. The second section discusses whether there is still a role for controls, and considers which forms of controls seem most apt under current world conditions of relatively free markets. The next section explores the possibility of developing measures aimed at promoting inflows to emerging markets in times of drought like the present. The paper concludes by sketching a set of proposals for international policy in this area in the coming years. (PDF 225KB)

http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/global/pdfs/Madrid3.pdf

(Added: Wed Jun 11 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 16 2005   Hits: 152)

The IMF's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility: What Role for Development?

Briefing by: Angela Wood Bretton Woods Project September 1997. This paper is split into 3 sections looking at the different roles of the IMF; the first looks at its role as a provider of finance, and whether ESAF is an appropriate mechanism and whether it provides suitable resources to the poorest countries; secondly it looks at its role in approving adjustment programmes and the whether it encourages other donors to lend to adjusting countries; and finally the paper examines whether the Fund is able to offer appropriate policy advice. The paper concludes with several broad recommendations and some more specific recommendations on how current mechanisms can be approved and actions that the Fund should take.

http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/topic/adjustment/esaf.html

(Added: Mon Mar 31 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 16 2005   Hits: 112)

IMF admits its policies seldom work

By Simon English in New York, London Telegraph (Filed: 20/03/2003). The International Monetary Fund, the Washington-based bank set up to police the financial globe and assist the Third World, yesterday made the startling admission that the policies it has been pursuing for the last 60 years do not often work. In a paper that will be seized on by IMF critics across the political spectrum, leading officials reveal they can find little evidence of their own success. Countries that follow IMF suggestions often suffer a "collapse in growth rates and significant financial crises", with open currency markets merely serving to "amplify the effects of various shocks".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2003/03/20/cnimf20.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/03/20/ixportal.html

(Added: Fri Mar 21 2003   Modified: Wed Jun 15 2005   Hits: 129)

Argentina and the Fund: From Triumph to Tragedy

From the Institute for International Economics, Policy Analyses In International Economics (67). In this policy analysis, former IMF Chief Economist Michael Mussa addresses the obvious question: What went wrong in Argentina and what important errors did the IMF make in either supporting inappropriate policies or in failing to press for alternatives that might have avoided catastrophe?

http://bookstore.iie.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=343

(Added: Thu Oct 10 2002   Modified: Tue Sep 26 2006   Hits: 327)

States of Unrest II: Resistance to IMF and World Bank Policies in Poor Countries (PDF)

New report reveals widespread and sustained resistance to IMF and World Bank policies by millions in world's poorest countries. 2003, WDM. Protest and civil unrest in developing countries directed against the policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank intensified in 2001 according to a report released today by London-based development campaigners, the World Development Movement. (PDF - 92KB)

http://www.wdm.org.uk/campaigns/cambriefs/debt/States%20of%20Unrest%20III_04.03.pdf

(Added: Thu May 16 2002   Modified: Wed Jan 10 2007   Hits: 181)

Growth May Be Good for the Poor-- But are IMF and World Bank Policies Good for Growth?

In a paper released last March by the World Bank's Development Research Group, Bank economists David Dollar and Aart Kraay confront critics of World Bank/IMF policies with new empirical research on incomes in both developed and less developed countries. The authors conclude that "growth generally does benefit the poor and that anyone who cares about the poor should favor the growth-enhancing policies of good rule of law, fiscal discipline, and openness to international trade."(p.27) This research misses the mark in several crucial respects. Most importantly, the real debate has never been about whether "growth does generally benefit the poor"-- which hardly anyone would deny. The more important question is: what has caused the dramatic slowdown in economic growth over the last two decades, and how much of it is attributable to the policies of the IMF and the World Bank?

http://www.cepr.net/publications/econ_growth_2001_05.htm

(Added: Fri Aug 18 2000   Modified: Mon Sep 04 2006   Hits: 387)

World Economic Outlooks

These reports presents the International Monetary Fund's analysis of world economic development and prospects.

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/weorepts.htm

(Added: Tue May 30 2000   Modified: Thu Jun 16 2005   Hits: 295)

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