Bretton Woods
Update 52
Too much, too soon: IMF conditionality and inflation targeting
Gerald Epstein, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, finds that despite little evidence of the success of inflation targeting in promoting economic growth, employment creation or poverty reduction, the IMF is increasingly using loan conditions and technical assistance to push its use. There is an urgent need for viable alternatives that focus on…
Time to listen to Lesotho! – The World Bank and its new anti-corruption agenda
Comment piece by Hennie Van Vuuren on corruption and bribery in the Bank-supported Lesotho Highlands Water Scheme
Six reasons why the World Bank should be debarred from education
Author of The State of the Right to Education outlines six reasons why the World Bank is an obstacle for making education all-encompassing, free and compulsory.
Evaluation of World Bank support for education says enrolment up, learning down
The Bank’s evaluation unit has released a report giving the Bank passing grades on increasing primary school enrolment and access for the disadvantaged, but failing grades on learning outcomes and educational management. Members of the report’s external advisory panel say the report failed to address teachers, the impact of HIV/AIDS, and the role of IMF…
Tinkering at the edges of governance reform: IMF quota proposals
After months of official wrangling and European stalling, proposals for changing IMF quotas, which determine financial contributions and voting power in the organisation, have coalesced around a small ad hoc increase for four countries, a commitment to make the quota formula more closely match economic realities and an increase in the basic vote
UK parliament says support for Bank fossil fuel investments is unacceptable
The United Kingdom’s accountability systems for World Bank and IMF policy have scored successes and failures over the summer of 2006. A cross-party parliamentary enquiry into the role of the IMF produced a hard hitting report that called for substantial reform. However the ministry responsible for World Bank policy has been criticised over its energy…
Bank environmental commitment under fire
Details of the World Bank’s current sustainability disasters in light of the dismantling of ESSD
Night and day: reviews highlight contrary views on World Bank use of conditionality
Internal reviews find that the World Bank is “broadly following” new good practice principles on the use of conditionality in adjustment lending, and support the continued “judicious use” of conditions in investment lending. Meanwhile critics grow increasingly frustrated with the conditionality status quo, leading NGO Christian Aid to call for an end to UK financial…
Independence of IMF’s evaluation arm questioned
In an evaluation of the IMF Independent Evaluation Office’s first five years of work, an external committee concluded that the IMF board may have undue influence over the body. Additionally the IEO set itself an ambitious work plan for the next year, as it plans to delve into the Fund’s internal organisation and trade policy
Bank anti-corruption framework: “A lot of rhetoric and arm-waving”?
Amidst a storm of controversy about the causes and solutions to corruption, the World Bank has announced a corruption amnesty and released an anti-corruption framework. The issue is high on the global development agenda, as the Bank pulls project finance in Indonesia and Cambodia, and the fiasco continues over oil revenues in Chad.
Analysis casts doubt on Bank scorecard: CPIA numbers made public for first time
In June, the World Bank disclosed for the first time details of its Country Policy Institutional Assessments, but analysis by the Bretton Woods Project suggests that this costly and influential exercise is just another way to force borrowers into adopting the model of economic development supported by the Bank.
Justice or conditionality by another name? World Bank at the Human Rights Council
In a statement at the first session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva in June 2006, Joseph Ingram, special representative of the World Bank to the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation stated that the advancement of human rights is “critical” to the Bank’s own poverty reduction mission, including the “global fight against…
BTC: destruction, abuse and betrayal
In July, as the oil in the IFC-supported Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline finally began flowing a year behind schedule, civil society groups from affected countries and elsewhere presented evidence of destruction, abuse and betrayal.
The World Bank and youth
World Bank and its work on youth
The IFC at fifty: All that glitters is too much gold
As the International Finance Corporation (IFC) marks its golden anniversary, the institution claims to serve “as a catalyst for innovative, market-based solutions for reducing poverty and addressing environmental and social challenges”. The reality fails to justify such a glittering perspective. Problem gold mine projects in Ghana, Peru and Kyrgyzstan and serious weaknesses in its recent…
Aumenta la asistencia y disminuye el aprendizaje
La Unidad de Evaluación del Banco dio el visto bueno al Banco por el aumento de niños y niñas que asisten a la escuela primaria y por el acceso de las personas menos favorecidas, pero no dio buenos puntos a los resultados del aprendizaje y al manejo de la educación.
New Bank lawyer; human development head retires
Over the summer, Ana Palacio was appointed General Counsel and World Bank vice president for the Human Development Network, Jean-Louis Sarbib, retired.
Mauritania, Malawi qualify for debt relief
Mauritania qualified for the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative in June, while Malawi completed the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative in August.
Cape Verde becomes IMF’s third PSI country
On 1 August, the IMF board approved Cape Verde’s application for the Policy Support Instrument (PSI)
Raghu Rajan to leave Fund
Raghuram Rajan announces his intention to leave his post of economic counsellor and director of research at the IMF at the end of the year
IMF to relaunch Haitian programme
After years of political and economic disputes, the IMF has finally reinitiated negotiations with Haiti
Fund inflexibility in Nicaragua disputed
The IMF has defended itself in response to a civil society campaign in Nicaragua
World Bank – IMF annual meetings 2006
Highlights of key civil society and official events at the World Bank – IMF annual meetings in Singapore, 17 – 20 September 2006.