Two more external evaluations of the IMF’s activities are about to be completed.
Posts By: bwp_admin
IMF voting reform examined
A small committee has been set up to investigate whether to reform the IMF’s formula for allocating votes between countries on its Board.
Lack of commitment for Social Principles
The Social Principles, proposed last autumn by UK Chancellor Gordon Brown as the “fourth pillar” of the international architecture, are likely to prove ineffective.
G7 agree crisis mechanisms
G7 finance ministers have agreed a framework to include the private sector in future crisis bailouts.
New IMF credit plan too harsh
The IMF’s Contingency Credit Line (CCL), agreed during the Spring meetings, will not help developing countries facing financial crisis because the qualification conditions are too demanding.
New Bank wisdom on economic crises
The Bank has identified 5 main ways in which macroeconomic crises affect the poor.
Absolute poverty rising: targets doubtful
New World Bank estimates suggest that 1.5bn people live in abject poverty, up from 1.
Indonesian NGOs criticise safety net, oppose new loans
In response to concerns that ruling party Golkar would misuse World Bank funds for election purposes, the Bank and IMF agreed in May to put new loans into a special Bank of Indonesia account.
Elections “don’t matter”: says Indonesia fund manager
Foreigners may not know much about these parties, they may not care much, but at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter who wins as long as the IMF and World Bank are still calling the shots.
Implementing the Bank’s new “Comprehensive Framework”
The Bank has established a secretariat to coordinate work on the Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF), the initiative on donor coordination and integrated analysis launched in January.
Curbing corruption
IMF policies have exacerbated corruption according to a Christian Aid briefing on new approaches to debt relief.
Bank Poverty Assessments – “irrelevant”?
The Bank’s Poverty Assessments contain “relatively little of policy relevance” because of their narrow focus on income-based poverty lines, according to a report by the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague.
Featured briefings
6 April 2022
The Bretton Woods Observer: Spring 2022
8 December 2021
The Bretton Woods Observer: Winter 2021
8 November 2021
IMF surveillance and climate change transition risks
New briefing by ActionAid USA and the Bretton Woods Project highlights research showing that IMF policy advice has undermined a just energy transition since the Paris Agreement was signed.