Bretton Woods
Update 81
Accountability squandered?
Despite a 2011 victory in Cambodia, where a mass eviction in the centre of Phnom Penh was halted and remaining affected families finally gained legal title to the land they had been wrongly denied under a World Bank project, recent arrests have put justice in jeopardy and led to calls for a continued lending freeze…
Infrastructure as an asset class
A forthcoming report on private equity infrastructure funds by Nicholas Hildyard of NGO The Corner House, More than bricks and mortar, looks at the connections between infrastructure funding and international financial markets, and at the wider political project that infrastructure embodies. In this briefing, Hildyard argues that the transformation of infrastructure into an asset class…
An easy call: IFC should quit MRL mining project
The IFC should terminate its support to MRL’s Philippine mining venture for not following their guidelines, and more than that, for ignoring the Philippine law concerning indigenous peoples.
Eurozone meltdown: IMF providing “political cover”
As European elections show the public increasingly rejecting austerity, critics call on the IMF to focus on the flaws of the eurozone rather than austerity in country programmes.
Will the IMF “make history” with a new view on capital flows?
In October the Fund is expected to present in October an updated institutional view on capital account regulations. The most recent IMF paper on the topic received criticism for advocating for capital account liberalisation in China and India. Meanwhile emerging economies worry that the Fund’s prescriptions still constrain their capacity to cope with global financial…
IMF contribution without representation?
While the IMF has been promised another $456 billion to add to its coffers, large emerging markets are conditioning their contributions on governance reforms. Meanwhile, activists are calling for deeper changes in the way international institutions are governed.
IFI leaders talk jobs, but staff push labour deregulation
International financial institutions increasingly recognise the negative impacts of austerity on labour markets, however, a disjuncture remains between their public pronouncements and their policies and practice.
World Bank’s ‘green growth’ approach denounced
At the United Nations Rio+20 conference on sustainable development held in Brazil in late June, the World Bank promoted its ‘green growth’ approach despite concerns from civil society groups.
IFC “needs to try harder” on development
NGOs continue to find that the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private sector arm, is off track in reducing poverty and promoting development, with concerns that the IFC development goals to be implemented in July will not help the poorest.
Revolving doors: staff turnover between IFIs and African governments
The term ‘revolving doors’ refers to frequent staff turnover between institutions, usually relevant when these represent different interests working on the same policy issues. This serves to foster cross-institutional networks, practices and alliances. The staff turnover between international financial institutions (IFIs) and borrowing governments works as a mechanism through which specific ideas and practices learnt…
Calls for halt of World Bank’s climate initiatives
NGOs have called on governments to pivot away from funding the Bank-housed Climate Investment Funds (CIFs). Concerns have also been raised about private sector delivery of climate finance and that the Bank’s efforts to push carbon markets are undermining genuine reforms in the forest sector.
IMF poverty focus challenged
In the middle of a review of its lending facilities for low-income countries (LICs) and a funding drive for more concessional resources, the IMF is facing criticism over its conditionality and a review of its debt sustainability framework.
Access for the poor?
As the G20 and the World Bank continue their push for increased investment in large-scale public-private led infrastructure projects, further scrutiny of the Bank’s track record puts its strategy in question.
New claims of rights abuses in World Bank-funded ‘land grabs’
As the World Bank held its Annual Conference on Land and Poverty in April, campaigners accused it once again of facilitating and legitimising ‘land grabs’ that harm local communities.
World Bank rejected by Indian NGOs
An early June statement from 26 social movements and NGOs in India have called the World Bank’s plans for civil society consultation on the Bank’s country assistance strategy (CAS) for India a “farce”.
Sargon Nissan joins the Project
We are delighted to welcome Sargon Nissan as the new manager of the Bretton Woods Project’s work programme on IMF and finance.
World Bank fails to take action on Eskom risks
The World Bank has declined to take immediate action over identified issues on water availability, air quality and community services related to Eskom for the Medupi coal-fired power plant in South Africa.
Indigenous peoples call on World Bank to respect their rights
A June letter to the incoming World Bank president Jim Yong Kim from 141 indigenous groups and civil society organisations called on the Bank for “positive engagement” to “put indigenous peoples at the centre of its development interventions … respecting the[ir] rights … and ensuring their full and effective participation”.
New gender IFI watcher network launched
US NGO Gender Action has launched a new Global Gender IFI Watcher Network, which aims to allow “large numbers of activists to collectively hold IFI investments accountable to prevent negative gender impacts and ensure positive gender outcomes”.
IMF and World Bank disagree over Ugandan taxes?
World Bank advice on taxes has been contradicted by a senior IMF representative who says that Uganda’s tax system is “not fair”.
IMF surveillance not yet integrated
IMF integrated surveillance decision delayed.
IMF pushes for fully convertible yuan
After high-level talks in May, Chinese vice premier Wang Qishan announced US support for the inclusion of the yuan in the currency basket for the IMF’s special drawing rights, the international reserve assets issued by the Fund. While this supports Chinese plans to make the yuan an alternative reserve currency alongside the US dollar and…
World Bank launches procurement review
The World Bank is undertaking a review of its procurement policy and procedures between 2012 and 2014, which could have significant consequences for developing countries.
Kosovo electricity grid privatisation to be audited by CAO
A complaint filed by Kosovo’s Independent Energy Union (SPEK) with the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman, the accountability mechanism of the International Finance Corporation (IFC, the World Bank’s private sector arm), about a 2009 advisory project by the IFC for the privatisation of Kosovo’s electricity grid has been accepted for a full audit.
IMF approves Angola funding
The IMF has agreed to release $133 million to Angola, despite calls for the Fund to withhold the disbursement until the Angolan government accounts for a $32 billion “discrepancy” in its public accounts.
IFC supporting food speculation?
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Bank’s private sector arm, has attracted criticism for its purchase of a 6 per cent stake in Armajaro Trading, a London-based commodity trading house founded by controversial hedge fund trader, Anthony Ward.
Timely Canadian action on governance reform
The Bretton Woods Project would like to sincerely thank the Honorable James M. Flaherty, Canada’s finance minister, for his kind end June response to a letter we sent him about leadership selection at the IFIs.
IMF and debt hold Jamaica back
A report published in May by the US-based Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) found that an overwhelming debt burden and conditions on IMF loans are hindering Jamaica’s economic recovery.
Parliamentarians call World Bank and IMF policies “unfair” and “ill-intentioned”
At an assembly held in Kampala in early April, IPU delegates criticised World Bank and IMF policies for being “unfair, non-transparent and ill-intentioned,” and described how minimal parliamentary oversight hinders national ownership of development.
No IFC audit despite new Peru oil spill
In May, the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO), the accountability mechanism of the International Finance Corporation (IFC, the Bank’s private sector arm), closed the Maple Energy case, despite a new oil spill in April.
World Bank sanctions decisions now published
At end May, the World Bank Group’s Sanctions Board, the Bank’s independent administrative tribunal for allegations of corruption and fraud in Bank projects, published its decisions on sanction cases for the first time.