IMF

IMF IMF
International Monetary Fund Along with the World Bank, the IMF was founded on the day the Bretton Woods Agreements were signed. Its first mission was to support the new system of standard exchange rates.

When the Bretton Wood fixed rates system came to an end in 1971, the main function of the IMF became that of being both policeman and fireman for global capital: it acts as policeman when it enforces its Structural Adjustment Policies and as fireman when it steps in to help out governments in risk of defaulting on debt repayments.

As for the World Bank, a weighted voting system operates: depending on the amount paid as contribution by each member state. 85% of the votes is required to modify the IMF Charter (which means that the USA with 17,68% % of the votes has a de facto veto on any change).

The institution is dominated by five countries: the United States (16,74%), Japan (6,23%), Germany (5,81%), France (4,29%) and the UK (4,29%).
The other 183 member countries are divided into groups led by one country. The most important one (6,57% of the votes) is led by Belgium. The least important group of countries (1,55% of the votes) is led by Gabon and brings together African countries.

http://imf.org

A Brief History of the Relations between the World Bank, the IMF, the US Government and Nicaragua

14 August 2018 - by Eric Toussaint

Central America is considered by the US government as part of its own exclusive sphere of influence. The policies adopted by the World Bank in terms of granting loans to the countries of the region are directly influenced by the political (...)
The Haitian people revolt, demonstrators control almost all the country

26 July 2018 - by Régine Vinon

Three people were killed on Friday 13 July 2018 during demonstrations against the Haitian government’s decision to increase fuel prices. Journalists saw the bodies of two protesters who were shot in the Delmas area of Port-au-Prince during (...)
Eurozone finance ministers agree on last-minute debt reprofiling for Greece

27 June 2018 - by Bodo Ellmers

Eurozone finance ministers convened for a crucial Eurogroup session in Brussels on 21 June and agreed on a last-minute set of new debt reprofiling measures for Greece. The package of maturity extensions, interest deferrals and €15bn in new loans (...)
The IMF is back in Argentina: “an economic and social crisis, even more serious than the present one, looms large on the horizon”

27 June 2018 - by Eric Toussaint, Sergio Ferrari

1. The vicious circle of illegitimate debt grapples the Argentine people once again 2. IMF’s $ 50 billion loan surpasses Greece’s previous record Sergio Ferrari from Berne, Switzerland interviewed Eric Toussaint, international debt specialist (...)
Armenia’s unfinished revolution

25 May 2018 - by Armen Abagyan

Bells of triumph are ringing in the streets of Yerevan following the deposition of now-former Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan. Ding-dong, the wicked witch is dead. The spectre of totalitarian rule and unbridled corruption enervating the already (...)
IMF conditionality: still undermining healthcare & social protection?

15 May 2018 - by Jesse Griffiths, Gino Brunswijck

The IMF tried last year to counter long-running accusations that its lending and advice programmes damage health outcomes in developing countries, but the independent evidence points in the opposite direction. The question is whether the IMF (...)
Global debt crisis ahead?

11 May 2018 - by Michael Roberts

Argentina is seeking International Monetary Fund aid after a series of drastic interest rate rises failed to stop the slide in the peso, pushing the country towards a financial crisis. Mauricio Macri, Argentina’s right-wing, pro-big business (...)
The Egyptian Network for the Abolition of Debt and the Right to Equitable Development (ENADED)

8 May 2018 - by CADTM, ENADED

Today, as capitalism has an increasing tendency to globalize all aspects of human life, our struggle must be globalized too. It is essential to develop networking strategies with other organizations of the same spheres of struggles. Capitalism (...)
UNCTAD: Debt warning lights flash for poorest countries, experts say

7 May 2018 - by UNCTAD

Top economists from UNCTAD and the International Monetary Fund agree it’s time to sound the alarm on rising public debt in many low-income countries but disagree on how loudly the bell should be rung. Mounting public debt in some of the world’s (...)
2018 IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings: the Bank has more money, but promises little change

3 May 2018 - by María José Romero, Bodo Ellmers, Gino Brunswijck

The Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank took place amid warnings of a ‘borrowed boom’ as an uptick in global growth was matched by global debt levels reaching record highs. The World Bank Group shareholders stumped up for an increase in the (...)
Pro-poor or anti-poor? The World Bank and IMF’s approach to social protection

13 April 2018 - by Stephen Kidd

In recent years, the World Bank and IMF have played an influential role in shaping national social protection policies. Social protection comprises a significant share of World Bank loans, reaching almost 10 per cent of lending to low-income (...)
The Central Bank of Uganda Comes Clean About Looming Debt Distress

26 March 2018 - by Mary Serumaga

Uganda has finally admitted that there is an increasing likelihood that the country will default on its debt obligations. The (Central) Bank of Uganda issued the warning in the first quarterly State of the Economy Report of 2018. The public (...)
Tunisia: protesting austerity, demanding sovereignty

26 February 2018 - by Hamza Hamouchene

The recent protests show that Tunisia is still a cauldron of popular resistance against neoliberal and neo-colonial attacks on the country’s sovereignty. Around 800 people were arrested, dozens were injured and at least one person was killed in (...)
The Fate of the Revolution

22 February 2018 - by Nathan Legrand

Tunisia’s ruling class is pursuing the same economic policies as the authoritarian regime it replaced. In the first half of January, a wave of protests spread across Tunisia. Most observers say that the new finance law, implemented at the (...)
Tunisia: “The promised economic miracle never happened” – A continuation of the uprisings of 2011

30 January 2018 - by Gilbert Achcar

For the specialist of the Arab world Gilbert Achcar, the Tunisian revolt was “foreseeable”. And it is a continuation of the uprisings of 2011. Originally from Lebanon, which he left in 1983 for Paris, Berlin and now London, at the School of (...)
Open letter to the International Monetary Fund on social protection

9 January 2018 - by Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky

ON December 21st 2017, the Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, sent jointly with several other UN human rights experts an open letter to the International Monetary Fund on the IMF’s approach to social (...)
The IMF mission to Iran expressed enthusiastic support for elimination of the universal cash transfer

7 January 2018 - by Peter Bakvis

Some colleagues will have seen the communiqué issued by the ITUC on Thursday concerning the widespread protests in Iran, underscoring the “spiralling inflation and the continued decline in real incomes” in the country (see the full comuniqué (...)
The case for repudiation of Uganda’s public debt

8 December 2017 - by Mary Serumaga

Uganda is in imminent danger of defaulting on its debt repayment obligations. The Auditor General notes in 2017 that interest payments on the public debt exceeded legal limits (15% of the annual budget) and are likely to be unsustainable going (...)
IMF needs radical reform to halt ‘failed policies’ of privatization and austerity – UN expert

26 October 2017 - by United Nations - Human Rights

NEW YORK (17 October 2017) – The lending policies of the International Monetary Fund are actively undermining some of the UN’s human rights and development priorities, as well as promoting the “failed” policies of privatization and “austerity”, a UN (...)
Hidden debts contribute to crisis in Congo

18 October 2017 - by Jubilee Debt Campaign

The IMF has reported that the Republic of Congo’s debt is higher than previously thought, but has not shown by how much or who the hidden debt is owed to. The Fund and Congo are in discussion on a bailout and austerity programme. In a March (...)
Debt relief for the hurricane-hit islands is the least we should do

14 October 2017 - by Tim Jones

As the devastation from recent hurricanes in the Caribbean becomes clearer, the calls for debt relief for affected countries grow stronger, writes Tim Jones ‘We have lost all that money can buy and replace,’ said Roosevelt Skerrit, the prime (...)
IMF Ukraine programme’s impact on women’s rights criticised at Human Rights Council

SUMMARY * WILPF submitted statement to HRC criticising IMF Ukraine programme * Statement argued programme’s harsh conditionalities hurt women * Called for human rights based approach to macro policy making In May the Geneva-based Women’s (...)
IMF substantial profits thanks to Greece (2010-2015)

10 July 2017 - by Dimitri Tzanninis

Ten Best Practices Yet to be Applied to the Greece Program, by Dimitri Tzanninis (former Greece Ministry of Economy and Finance, former IMF) USC Global Leadership Summit, 29-30 April 2016 Watch this video on Youtube Watch the Q&A (...)
The dark side of infrastructure investment in Africa

12 June 2017 - by Collectif

With its Compact with Africa the German G20 presidency is actively promoting private loans and investment as solutions to infrastructure deficiencies on the African continent. The Compact aims at using public resources in order to improve the (...)
IMF lending freeze “pushing Tunisia to the brink”

11 April 2017 - by Bretton Woods Project

IMF freezes second tranche of $2.8 billion loan to Tunisia ITUC accuses Fund of risking democratic progress in Tunisia In February it emerged that the IMF had frozen payment on its $2.8 billion four-year Extended Fund Facility loan programme (...)