"The logic of providing assistance to developing countries is to help them adopt expansionary policies in a time of economic downturn. Yet the IMF is forcing countries in financial distress to pursue contractionary policies - the mirror image of the stimulative policies carried out by the rich countries (and supported by the IMF, for the rich countries). The Fund's loans since September 2008 to countries rocked by the financial crisis almost uniformly require budget cuts, wage freezes and interest rate hikes. The first nine 'IMF loans to countries affected by the crisis clearly demonstrate that the IMF is still prescribing pro-cyclical policies of fiscal and monetary policy tightening,' says Bhumika Muchhala of the Penang, Malaysia-based Third World Network. 'The Fund's crisis loans still contain the old policy conditions of cutting public sector expenditures, reducing fiscal deficits and increasing interest rates - which is the stark opposite of the expansionary, stimulus policies being supported in the G20 countries.'"
More on IMF's resurgent, but unchanged policies: http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/resurgence/2009/twr225.htm --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
