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Critical voices on the World Bank and the IMF
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Annual Meetings 2025 Wrap-up: IMF and World Bank declare uncertainty the “new normal” amid spectacle showcasing US and private capital interests
Annual Meetings showcased the BWIs’ efforts to prove their loyalty to the current US administration and prioritise private capital, even as multilateralism erodes and civil society space shrinks.
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Development Committee chair’s statement analysis Annual Meetings 2025
The Development Committee’s 2025 statement recycles old prescriptions – privatised finance, growth-first policy and vague climate pledges – confirming that the Bank’s reform agenda remains rhetorical, risk-averse and detached from social or environmental justice.
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Annual Meetings 2025 Preamble: Bank and Fund struggle to find response to global backlash to neoliberalism, as ‘new Bretton Woods’ reforms sputter
The mounting contradictions between rhetoric and practice at the IMF and World Bank grow as geopolitical tensions and poor economic prospects strain social and political stability.
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Fuelling authoritarianism: The role of the Fund and Bank in eroding the social contract
BWIs’ policies continue to contribute to the rise of populism, authoritarianism and backlash against multilateralism despite the institutions’ long-standing concerns and rhetorical support for reform.
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IFC Sustainability Framework Review: Overlooking structural issues
Constrained by the shareholders’ focus on returns over financial risk, IFC prioritises safe markets and leverage, often crowding out private finance instead of providing patient capital for development.
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IFC Sustainability Framework Review
This Inside the Institutions critically analyses the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) review of its Sustainability Framework, amidst intensifying scrutiny of its harmful investments.
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New investigation highlights harms of for-profit healthcare funded by IFC-backed private equity group
New exposé highlights allegations of abuse at hospitals invested in by IFC’s client TPG Inc.
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Civil society urges the IFC and ADB to cancel financing for Pakistan copper mine
Located in a militarised region, the project risks exacerbating social disruption and environmental destruction.
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IDA21 policy package disappoints as prospects for IDA countries continue to darken
After difficult negotiations due to American pressure on climate and gender, World Bank governors approve IDA21 document, embedding the Bank’s problematic private sector-led development approach and failing to integrate economic transformation or binding human rights obligations.
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Ghana’s gas debt provides cautionary tale as World Bank reconsiders support for upstream gas projects
After following World Bank energy reform model, government faced with crippling debts and high energy costs.
