by The conditions of nearly 90 percent of the International Monetary Fund’s pandemic-related loans are forcing developing nations suffering some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises to implement austerity measures that fuel further impoverishment and inequality, an analysis published this week by Oxfam International revealed.Oxfam found that “13 out of the 15 IMF loan programs negotiated during the second year of the pandemic require new austerity measures such as taxes on food and fuel or spending cuts that could put vital public services at risk.”This stands in stark contrast with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s admonition to the European Union last year that the wealthy bloc should not endanger its economic recovery with “the suffocating force of austerity.”“This
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The conditions of nearly 90 percent of the International Monetary Fund’s pandemic-related loans are forcing developing nations suffering some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises to implement austerity measures that fuel further impoverishment and inequality, an analysis published this week by Oxfam International revealed.Consortium NewsOxfam found that “13 out of the 15 IMF loan programs negotiated during the second year of the pandemic require new austerity measures such as taxes on food and fuel or spending cuts that could put vital public services at risk.”
This stands in stark contrast with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s admonition to the European Union last year that the wealthy bloc should not endanger its economic recovery with “the suffocating force of austerity.”
“This epitomizes the IMF’s double standard,” Oxfam International Senior Policy Advisor Nabil Abdo said in a statement. “It is warning rich countries against austerity while forcing poorer ones into it.”...
IMF Loans Forcing Austerity on Crisis-Ravaged Nations
Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams