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Finance

News

14 September 2011

Forty years is enough?

On the 40th anniversary of US default on its gold convertibility obligation, decreasing confidence in the dollar has strengthened calls to reform the international monetary system. The IMF is accused of ignoring inequities at the core of the system, while developing countries are increasingly seeking alternative regional arrangements.

Land

News

13 September 2011

World Bank deaf on food speculation, vocal on financial instruments

As agricultural market continue to experience increasing volatility, and record food prices intensify global hunger and poverty, the World Bank's approach to the crisis, which emphasises the use of commodities markets and corporate agriculture, is found wanting by groups demanding food sovereignty and food security.

Environment

News

13 September 2011

World Bank pushing dirty coal and massive hydro

The Bank's energy projects in Kosovo and India are being lambasted by critics for threatening livelihoods and the environment.

Conditionality

News

13 September 2011

IMF advice accused of risking new recession

Since the financial crisis, the IMF's rhetoric has tried to be nuanced about austerity policies and the need to stimulate growth, but critics says its actions risk pushing the world back into recession and hurting workers.

Social services

News

13 September 2011

Bondholders vs the public: Outcry over IMF-EU eurozone loans

The sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone, where Greece now needs a second round of loans, threatens major economies like Spain and Italy, but IMF-backed lending packages that demand deep austerity with insufficient attention to lenders' responsibilities anger the public.

Environment

Commentary

14 June 2011 | Guest comment

World Bank's Africa strategy remains rutted in comfort zone

A critical analysis of the World Bank's new strategy for Africa

Conditionality

News

13 June 2011

IMF agrees new reserve adequacy metrics

In early March, the IMF board agreed to the use of new ways of measuring whether a country's foreign exchange reserve were adequate.

Finance

News

13 June 2011

IMF paper finds lobbying contributed to financial crisis

In May, three IMF staffers published a working paper with National Bureau of Economic Research,, A Fistful of Dollars: Lobbying and the Financial Crisis, pointing out the role of lobbying by financial firms for lax regulation which directly led to the 2008 subprime crisis.

Finance

News

13 June 2011

Aid to Afghanistan, Malawi suspended on IMF decision

International donors including USAID and UK DFID have halted aid to Afghanistan following the IMF's suspension of funds in February.

Social services

News

13 June 2011

Rehash of failed policies for Arab states?

As revolutionary movements sweep the Arab world, the World Bank and the IMF have taken a lead in international economic engagement in the Middle East and North Africa region. But critics have warned of the dangers of locking transitional governments into long-term loans with economic conditionalities that may perpetuate the flawed development model that contributed to the crisis in the first place.

Conditionality

News

13 June 2011

IMF policy, but not practice? Regressive tax in Pakistan

The IMF is withholding part of a loan to Pakistan over its failure to raise consumption taxes or decrease spending, but IMF-led reforms fail to address the under-taxation of the country's wealthy elite. The IMF's official approach to tax policy advice, articulated in a March board paper, shows a new appreciation for the distributional effects of taxation, but policy has not translated into practice.

Accountability

News

13 June 2011

IMF to spend $436 million on office refurb

The April IMF board approval of its budgets for the 2012 financial year (FY), and indicative budgets for FY2013-14, gave the first public insight into the amount the Fund plans to spend on refurbishing its offices.