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65
Afterthoughts : Critics plan offensive as IMF-World Bank crisis deepens=20
First posted 01:53am (Mla time) April 27, 2006=20
By Walden Bello
INQ7.net=20
WASHINGTON, DC -- The spring meetings of the World Bank and =
International Monetary Fund took place this weekend with police =
barricades ringing the two institutions at the heart of Washington, DC. =
There were almost no protesters in sight.
The action was indoors, a few blocks away, at the Institute for Policy =
Studies. There, the opposition was putting the final touches to a global =
campaign to "disempower" the two institutions. To the 70 activists from =
different parts of the world attending the two-day strategy meeting, the =
relative absence of street protests was deceptive. They knew that in =
fact the two institutions were in the midst of their most serious crisis =
in years, one that provided the opportunity for weakening their hold on =
the governance of the world economy.
Crisis of legitimacy at the IMF
The crisis is more evident at the International Monetary Fund. The IMF =
never recovered from the Asian financial crisis in 1997, according to =
former IMF and World=20
=20
=20
=20
=20
=20
=20
=20
Bank official, Dennis de Tray, vice president of the Center for Global =
Development. "It lost its legitimacy then," he said at a lunch forum =
sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Since the crisis, key Asian countries such as Thailand, Philippines, =
China, and India have refrained from new borrowings from the IMF, =
mindful of the consequences of disastrous financial liberalization =
programs that many Asian countries adopted at the behest of the Fund in =
the early 1990s.
To the Asian countries' reluctance to get into more debt with the Fund =
has now been added a conspicuous move among Latin American countries, =
led by Brazil and Argentina, to completely pay off their debts to the =
IMF in order to declare independence from an institution that is much =
hated in the region.
What is, in effect, a boycott by some of its biggest borrowers is =
creating a budgetary crisis owing to the fact that over the last two =
decades, the IMF's operations have been increasingly funded from loan =
repayments by its developing country clients rather than contributions =
from the wealthy Northern governments, which deliberately shifted the =
burden of sustaining the institution to the borrowers. But with key =
client countries now ending their financial ties, where will the Fund =
get its resources?
Speaking at the same event as de Tray, Ngaire Woods, an Oxford =
University specialist on the IMF and World Bank, revealed that the IMF =
projects that payments of charges and interest to the organization would =
more than halve from 3.19 billion dollars in 2005 to 1.39 billion =
dollars in 2006 and halve again to 635 million dollars in 2009, creating =
what she described "a huge squeeze on the budget of the organization."
Problems at the Bank
While it does not have the aura of controversy and failure that =
surrounds the IMF, the World Bank is also in crisis, say informed =
observers. A budget crisis is also overtaking the Bank, according to =
Woods: Income from borrowers' fees and charges dropped from 8.1 billion =
dollars in 2001 to 4.4 billion dollars in 2004, while income from the =
Bank's investments went from 1.5 billion dollars in 2001 to 304 million =
dollars in 2004. China, Indonesia Mexico, Brazil and many of the more =
advanced developing countries are going elsewhere for their loans.
The budgetary crisis is, however, only one aspect of overall crisis of =
the institution. The policy prescriptions offered by Bank economists is =
increasingly seen as irrelevant to the problems faced by developing =
countries, says de Tray, who served as the IMF's resident officer in =
Hanoi and the World Bank's representative in Jakarta.
The problem, he said, lies in the emphasis at the Bank's research =
department on producing "cutting edge" technical economic work geared to =
the western academic world rather than coming out with knowledge to =
support practical policy prescriptions. The Bank is currently staffed by =
some 10,000 professionals, most of them economists, and de Tray claims =
that "there is nothing wrong at the World Bank that a 40 per cent staff =
reduction would not fix."
Woods supports de Tray, writing in a recent report that the "most common =
complaint in the field is that the Fund and Bank staff have no policy =
experience. Having completed doctorates in economics or finance, the =
staff is ill-equipped for the complex and messy work of the political =
systems in which they work."
The disdain for politics that incapacitates many staff in dealing with =
the developing world is often coupled with a blind eyes to the fact that =
politics of a more consequential kind than complex developing country =
politics also influences the policy prescriptions of the Bank and the =
Fund.
"Politics has always influenced the advice offered by the IMF and World =
Bank," writes Wood. "South Korea's first standby agreement with the IMF =
in 1997 was clearly decorated with conditions which had been added at =
the behest of the United States. In Russia through the 1990s, political =
pressures in the G7 pushed the Bank to make loans, which were never used =
(but for which Russia had to pay charges), and pushed the IMF to turn a =
blind eye to failures to meet its targets. World Bank projects are =
sometimes covertly shaped by preexisting agreements for contracts =
between large companies backed by powerful governments and borrowers."
How to hide a crisis
One of those present at the meeting of non-governmental organizations at =
the Institute for Policy Studies was Robin Broad, an associate professor =
at American University. A long-time student of the World Bank whose =
book, "Unequal Alliance: the World Bank and the Philippines," is =
regarded as a classic case study of the institution's relations with its =
client countries, Broad claims that the World Bank is, in fact, in more =
of a crisis than the IMF but that this is less visible to the public.
"The IMF's response has been to withdraw behind its four walls, thus =
reinforcing the public perception of its being besieged," she notes. =
"The Bank's response, however, has been to engage the world to hide its =
mounting crisis."
She identifies three elements in the Bank's offensive. "First, it goes =
out and tells donors that it is the institution best positioned to do =
lending to end poverty, for the environment, for addressing HIV-AIDS, =
you name it . when in fact its record proves that it's not. Second, it =
has the world's largest 'development' research department -- funded to =
the tune of about 50 million dollars --whose raison d'etre is to produce =
research to back up predetermined conclusions. Third, it has this huge =
external affairs department, with a budget of some 30 million dollars -- =
a PR unit that feeds these so-called objective research findings to the =
press and fosters the image of an all-knowing Bank."
But, she concludes, "This can't last. Inside the Bank, they know they're =
in crisis and are scrambling. And sooner or later, if we do our work, =
the truth will come out."
Reaction to new initiatives
At the NGO meeting, people dismissed World Bank president Paul =
Wolfowitz's much publicized anti-corruption campaign as another public =
relations stunt designed to shore up the Bank's faltering legitimacy.
"Talk about being hypocritical," said Shalmali Guttal of the =
Bangkok-based Focus on the Global South. "He was the US ambassador to =
Indonesia in the mid-'80s, when corruption involving World Bank projects =
was rife, and he never did anything about it. About one out of every =
three dollars that the Bank gave Suharto government over a 30-year =
period from the mid-'60s to the mid-'90s went to the pockets of =
Suharto's people. This came to about $10 billion of the $30 billion =
World Bank lending program. Wolfowitz, in fact, was known as a great =
friend of the Suharto regime."
Deep skepticism also met the plan to increase the voting power of some =
the big developing countries, such as China and Brazil, and the =
announcement that a few more poor countries would be made eligible for =
debt reduction under the Bank-managed "Highly Indebted Poor Country =
Initiative" (HIPC). The latter was seen as a PR effort to shore up a =
faltering program while the former was seen as a desperate attempt to =
head off the move of many developing countries to move away from =
dependence on the two institutions.
End of reform?
There was little talk at the meeting about reforming the Fund and the =
Bank's lending and project policies, the preferred approach of many of =
the bigger international NGO's in the nineties. Sameer Dossani, =
coordinator of the 50 Years is Enough! Campaign expressed the meeting's =
doubts about the viability of a reformist approach: "We criticized =
structural adjustment programs, and they came up with PRSPs [Poverty =
Reduction Strategy Papers]. We called for debt cancellation, and they =
came up with HIPC. With these initiatives now mired in failure, isn't it =
time for another approach?"
With the deepening crisis of the two institutions, the critics sense an =
opportunity for putting in place a more radical strategy. "We've united =
around a strategy of disempowering the Bank and the Fund," Lidy Nacpil =
of Jubilee South, a global coalition demanding debt cancellation, at the =
conclusion of the two-day meeting. Instead of attaching conditions to =
IMF and Bank operations in order to reduce their negative impacts, the =
new approach would identify the most vulnerable operations or divisions =
of the two institutions and wage global campaigns to shut them down with =
the strategic goal of eventually rendering the two institutions with =
radically reduced power and influence.
"It's like cutting off the tentacles of an octopus," Dossani said. "You =
start with the most vulnerable parts, then move on."
Among two initiatives considered by the new campaign are international =
mass mobilizations at the time of the World Bank-IMF Fall Meeting in =
Singapore during the third week of September and an international =
conference on "Alternatives to the World Bank and the IMF" timed to =
coincide with the Fall meeting.
Walden Bello is professor of Sociology at the University of the =
Philippines and executive director of the Bangkok-based Focus on the =
Global South.
Arthur
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><FONT size=3D2><SPAN class=3Dfontheadline><SPAN=20
class=3Dfontinf2>Afterthoughts : </SPAN>Critics plan offensive as =
IMF-World Bank=20
crisis deepens </SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=3Dfontgry1>First posted =
01:53am (Mla=20
time) April 27, 2006</SPAN> <BR>By Walden Bello<BR>INQ7.net=20
<BR><BR><BR><BR></FONT></FONT><SPAN class=3Dfonttext><FONT face=3DArial=20
size=3D2>WASHINGTON, DC -- The spring meetings of the World Bank and =
International=20
Monetary Fund took place this weekend with police barricades ringing the =
two=20
institutions at the heart of Washington, DC. There were almost no =
protesters in=20
sight.</FONT>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The action was indoors, a few blocks =
away, at the=20
Institute for Policy Studies. There, the opposition was putting the =
final=20
touches to a global campaign to =93disempower=94 the two institutions. =
To the 70=20
activists from different parts of the world attending the two-day =
strategy=20
meeting, the relative absence of street protests was deceptive. They =
knew that=20
in fact the two institutions were in the midst of their most serious =
crisis in=20
years, one that provided the opportunity for weakening their hold on the =
governance of the world economy.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Crisis of legitimacy at the =
IMF</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The crisis is more evident at the =
International=20
Monetary Fund. The IMF never recovered from the Asian financial crisis =
in 1997,=20
according to former IMF and World</FONT>
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E><FONT=20
face=3DArial size=3D2>Bank official, Dennis de Tray, vice president of =
the Center=20
for Global Development. =93It lost its legitimacy then,=94 he said at a =
lunch forum=20
sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Since the crisis, key Asian countries =
such as=20
Thailand, Philippines, China, and India have refrained from new =
borrowings from=20
the IMF, mindful of the consequences of disastrous financial =
liberalization=20
programs that many Asian countries adopted at the behest of the Fund in =
the=20
early 1990s.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>To the Asian countries=92 reluctance to =
get into more=20
debt with the Fund has now been added a conspicuous move among Latin =
American=20
countries, led by Brazil and Argentina, to completely pay off their =
debts to the=20
IMF in order to declare independence from an institution that is much =
hated in=20
the region.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>What is, in effect, a boycott by some of =
its biggest=20
borrowers is creating a budgetary crisis owing to the fact that over the =
last=20
two decades, the IMF=92s operations have been increasingly funded from =
loan=20
repayments by its developing country clients rather than contributions =
from the=20
wealthy Northern governments, which deliberately shifted the burden of=20
sustaining the institution to the borrowers. But with key client =
countries now=20
ending their financial ties, where will the Fund get its=20
resources?<BR><BR>Speaking at the same event as de Tray, Ngaire Woods, =
an Oxford=20
University specialist on the IMF and World Bank, revealed that the IMF =
projects=20
that payments of charges and interest to the organization would more =
than halve=20
from 3.19 billion dollars in 2005 to 1.39 billion dollars in 2006 and =
halve=20
again to 635 million dollars in 2009, creating what she described =93a =
huge=20
squeeze on the budget of the organization.=94</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Problems at the Bank</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>While it does not have the aura of =
controversy and=20
failure that surrounds the IMF, the World Bank is also in crisis, say =
informed=20
observers. A budget crisis is also overtaking the Bank, according to =
Woods:=20
Income from borrowers=92 fees and charges dropped from 8.1 billion =
dollars in 2001=20
to 4.4 billion dollars in 2004, while income from the Bank=92s =
investments went=20
from 1.5 billion dollars in 2001 to 304 million dollars in 2004. China,=20
Indonesia Mexico, Brazil and many of the more advanced developing =
countries are=20
going elsewhere for their loans.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The budgetary crisis is, however, only =
one aspect of=20
overall crisis of the institution. The policy prescriptions offered by =
Bank=20
economists is increasingly seen as irrelevant to the problems faced by=20
developing countries, says de Tray, who served as the IMF=92s resident =
officer in=20
Hanoi and the World Bank=92s representative in Jakarta.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The problem, he said, lies in the =
emphasis at the=20
Bank=92s research department on producing =93cutting edge=94 technical =
economic work=20
geared to the western academic world rather than coming out with =
knowledge to=20
support practical policy prescriptions. The Bank is currently staffed by =
some=20
10,000 professionals, most of them economists, and de Tray claims that =
=93there is=20
nothing wrong at the World Bank that a 40 per cent staff reduction would =
not=20
fix.=94</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Woods supports de Tray, writing in a =
recent report=20
that the =93most common complaint in the field is that the Fund and Bank =
staff=20
have no policy experience. Having completed doctorates in economics or =
finance,=20
the staff is ill-equipped for the complex and messy work of the =
political=20
systems in which they work.=94</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The disdain for politics that =
incapacitates many=20
staff in dealing with the developing world is often coupled with a blind =
eyes to=20
the fact that politics of a more consequential kind than complex =
developing=20
country politics also influences the policy prescriptions of the Bank =
and the=20
Fund.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>=93Politics has always influenced the =
advice offered by=20
the IMF and World Bank,=94 writes Wood. =93South Korea=92s first standby =
agreement=20
with the IMF in 1997 was clearly decorated with conditions which had =
been added=20
at the behest of the United States. In Russia through the 1990s, =
political=20
pressures in the G7 pushed the Bank to make loans, which were never used =
(but=20
for which Russia had to pay charges), and pushed the IMF to turn a blind =
eye to=20
failures to meet its targets. World Bank projects are sometimes covertly =
shaped=20
by preexisting agreements for contracts between large companies backed =
by=20
powerful governments and borrowers.=94</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>How to hide a crisis</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>One of those present at the meeting of=20
non-governmental organizations at the Institute for Policy Studies was =
Robin=20
Broad, an associate professor at American University. A long-time =
student of the=20
World Bank whose book, =93Unequal Alliance: the World Bank and the =
Philippines,=94=20
is regarded as a classic case study of the institution=92s relations =
with its=20
client countries, Broad claims that the World Bank is, in fact, in more =
of a=20
crisis than the IMF but that this is less visible to the =
public.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>=93The IMF=92s response has been to =
withdraw behind its=20
four walls, thus reinforcing the public perception of its being =
besieged,=94 she=20
notes. =93The Bank=92s response, however, has been to engage the world =
to hide its=20
mounting crisis.=94</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>She identifies three elements in the =
Bank=92s=20
offensive. =93First, it goes out and tells donors that it is the =
institution best=20
positioned to do lending to end poverty, for the environment, for =
addressing=20
HIV-AIDS, you name it =85 when in fact its record proves that it=92s =
not. Second, it=20
has the world=92s largest =91development=92 research department -- =
funded to the tune=20
of about 50 million dollars --whose raison d=92etre is to produce =
research to back=20
up predetermined conclusions. Third, it has this huge external affairs=20
department, with a budget of some 30 million dollars -- a PR unit that =
feeds=20
these so-called objective research findings to the press and fosters the =
image=20
of an all-knowing Bank.=94</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>But, she concludes, =93This can=92t last. =
Inside the=20
Bank, they know they=92re in crisis and are scrambling. And sooner or =
later, if we=20
do our work, the truth will come out.=94</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Reaction to new initiatives</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>At the NGO meeting, people dismissed =
World Bank=20
president Paul Wolfowitz=92s much publicized anti-corruption campaign as =
another=20
public relations stunt designed to shore up the Bank=92s faltering=20
legitimacy.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>=93Talk about being hypocritical,=94 said =
Shalmali Guttal=20
of the Bangkok-based Focus on the Global South. =93He was the US =
ambassador to=20
Indonesia in the mid-=9180s, when corruption involving World Bank =
projects was=20
rife, and he never did anything about it. About one out of every three =
dollars=20
that the Bank gave Suharto government over a 30-year period from the =
mid-=9160s to=20
the mid-=9190s went to the pockets of Suharto=92s people. This came to =
about $10=20
billion of the $30 billion World Bank lending program. Wolfowitz, in =
fact, was=20
known as a great friend of the Suharto regime.=94</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Deep skepticism also met the plan to =
increase the=20
voting power of some the big developing countries, such as China and =
Brazil, and=20
the announcement that a few more poor countries would be made eligible =
for debt=20
reduction under the Bank-managed =93Highly Indebted Poor Country =
Initiative=94=20
(HIPC). The latter was seen as a PR effort to shore up a faltering =
program while=20
the former was seen as a desperate attempt to head off the move of many=20
developing countries to move away from dependence on the two=20
institutions.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>End of reform?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>There was little talk at the meeting =
about reforming=20
the Fund and the Bank=92s lending and project policies, the preferred =
approach of=20
many of the bigger international NGO=92s in the nineties. Sameer =
Dossani,=20
coordinator of the 50 Years is Enough! Campaign expressed the =
meeting=92s doubts=20
about the viability of a reformist approach: =93We criticized structural =
adjustment programs, and they came up with PRSPs [Poverty Reduction =
Strategy=20
Papers]. We called for debt cancellation, and they came up with HIPC. =
With these=20
initiatives now mired in failure, isn=92t it time for another=20
approach?=94</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>With the deepening crisis of the two =
institutions,=20
the critics sense an opportunity for putting in place a more radical =
strategy.=20
=93We=92ve united around a strategy of disempowering the Bank and the =
Fund,=94 Lidy=20
Nacpil of Jubilee South, a global coalition demanding debt cancellation, =
at the=20
conclusion of the two-day meeting. Instead of attaching conditions to =
IMF and=20
Bank operations in order to reduce their negative impacts, the new =
approach=20
would identify the most vulnerable operations or divisions of the two=20
institutions and wage global campaigns to shut them down with the =
strategic goal=20
of eventually rendering the two institutions with radically reduced =
power and=20
influence.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>=93It=92s like cutting off the tentacles =
of an octopus,=94=20
Dossani said. =93You start with the most vulnerable parts, then move=20
on.=94</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Among two initiatives considered by the =
new campaign=20
are international mass mobilizations at the time of the World Bank-IMF =
Fall=20
Meeting in Singapore during the third week of September and an =
international=20
conference on =93Alternatives to the World Bank and the IMF=94 timed to =
coincide=20
with the Fall meeting.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Walden Bello is professor of Sociology at =
the=20
University of the Philippines and executive director of the =
Bangkok-based Focus=20
on the Global South.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT></P></SPAN><BR><FONT face=3DArial=20
size=3D2>Arthur</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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| Re: Interesting - Discuss [message #383578 ] |
Do, 27 April 2006 13:37 |
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laods of freebies here http://www.rpoints.com/?ruid=1804 and get
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