Bretton Woods
Update 58
Fund fights capital controls, not turbulent capital markets
Despite concerns about the consequences of the credit market breakdown in rich countries spilling over into other countries, the IMF is nagging developing countries to open their capital accounts and looking to regulate sovereign wealth funds.
The International Finance Corporation: Behind the rhetoric
There is evidence that the IFC’s financing of small and medium enterprises, almost all of which occurs via financial intermediaries, is under-supervised, and that direct lending is still focused on large companies in emerging market economies with questionable value-added.
World Bank: head in the sand over ‘peace conduit’
NGO Friends of the Earth Middle East has expressed concern over the World Bank’s involvement in the Red Sea to Dead Sea water conveyance project, in particular its failure to consider alternatives that would tackle the root cause of the Dead Sea’s degradation
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Climate contradictions: World Bank sets up shop in Bali
The key role that the World Bank is preparing to play in December’s international climate change conference in Bali sits uncomfortably with its continued commitment to fossil fuel funding and failure to make a meaningful shift in its energy lending
New World Bank financing instruments
Two areas that Robert Zoellick’s Bank is likely to focus on are the promotion of risk management instruments, and developing local currency bond markets.
IMF flees Bangladesh
An IMF mission visited Dhaka in September 2007 to sign a PSI and put another chain around the country’s neck. But the people of Bangladesh did not behave as the mission expected. They said a loud “NO” to the IMF mission.
Failing small farmers: The World Bank and agriculture
Stinging from a critique from its own evaluation unit on its work on agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, the World Bank released its flagship annual report on agriculture in October to heavy criticism from civil society.
Further embarrassment over Botnia
Minutes before cutting the ribbon of inauguration for the IFC-funded pulp mill owned by Finnish Company Oy Metsa Botnia in Uruguay at the start of November, Erikki Varis, CEO of the Finnish company was ordered to hold off by the Spanish government
IFC: carbon cowboys in the Amazon
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) risk breaching their own social and environmental safeguards if they provide funding for the Peru liquefied natural gas project, or Camisea II.
Ungovernable debate over Fund governance reform
With the wait for new leadership at the IMF over and the deadline for a deal on quota reform looming, the hard bargaining over power at the Fund will now begin. Still no end to European dominance of the institution is in site.
Less carrot, more stick please
As negotiations close over donations to the World Bank’s financing arm for low income countries, civil society groups have expressed disappointment over the failure to make progress on conditionality, debt sustainability, allocation or impact assessment.
More IMF staffing to deal with poor countries?
In mid-October the IMF board considered the next in a series of policy papers defining the Fund’s role in low-income countries, but the board was divided on whether the institution should commit more resources (meaning staff time) to work in poor countries
Strauss-Kahn to make $500,000 as IMF head
For the first time, the terms of appointment for the managing director of the IMF have been publicly released. Dominique Strauss-Kahn will earn a tax-free salary of $420,930 and expense allowances of $75,350 per year.
2007 Bankspeak and resources
Continuing a much-heralded tradition at the Bretton Woods Project, the first issue of 2008 will feature ‘Bankspeak of the year’ and ‘resources of the year’.
Ecuador withdraws from ICSID?
Ecuador intends to prevent oil and mining disputes from going to the Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.
The IMF and financial sector reform
While the World Bank has done a lot of work on financial sector reform, the IMF is also a key actor. Since facing criticism over its lack of understanding of financial markets in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the IMF has significantly increased its capacity for analysis of the financial sector.
G7 calls for budget cut at the IMF
The major shareholders of the Fund are now calling for the IMF to severely curtail its expenses.
More Bank ‘aid for trade’
Heads of the IFIs were in Geneva in November for a WTO conference to take stock of its aid for trade taskforce.
A virtual World Bank to add to the real one?
Not satisfied with reforming the investment climate of bricks and mortar, the World Bank’s IFC launched its annual Doing Business report in the virtual gaming world Second Life in October.
Addressing the legacy of big dams
Two recent publications by NGO International Rivers unearth how the legacy of past World Bank dam projects remains unaddressed.
Senegal joins the ranks of PSI countries
The East African nation of Senegal became the first francophone country to sign up to a Policy Support Instrument (PSI), a Fund programme for low-income countries that involves oversight and conditionality but no financing.
Public campaigns to reform IDA
In Europe, Asia and the United States, civil society has campaigned for reform of the World Bank through the replenishment process of the International Development Association.
