IMF

Beyond The Finance Bill: Kenya’s Ongoing Demand For Change

August 20, 2024 Nicholas Mwangi, Orinoco Tribune. Resist! IMF, Kenya, Mass Action, US Imperialism, Youth Activism

For the past five weeks, Kenya has been gripped by unprecedented protests. What began on June 18 as a rejection of the Finance Bill has expanded into a larger movement demanding better governance and radical change in the country. In society, development and events are never entirely predictable, nor do they occur in isolation. Even periods of apparent inactivity can give way to rapid change, overshadowing years of dormancy or quietness. These dynamics are evident in the ongoing protests in Kenya, that embody Lenin’s famous quote, “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.”

G20’s New Delhi Declaration Is A Successful Balancing Act

September 12, 2023 People's Dispatch. Educate! climate crisis, G20, IMF, Lula da Silva, Narendra Modi, New Delhi declaration, Paris Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Ukraine

The 18th Summit of G20 (Group of 20) concluded in New Delhi with the adoption of a joint declaration on Sunday, September 10. The declaration reiterated the G20’s commitment to UN Sustainable Development Goals and raised the need to reform global decision-making with the inclusion of more voices from the Global South. The two day meeting of world’s top economies concluded with Indian Prime Ninister Narendra Modi handing over the presidency to Brazil which will host the summit next year. The New Delhi summit with the theme “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or “One Earth, One Family, One Future” invited the African Union (AU) as its 21st member with its chairperson Azali Assoumani joining the proceedings.

BRICS Calls For Economic Decision Making In The Interest Of The Majority

August 24, 2023 Abdul Rahman, People's Dispatch. Educate! Africa, BRICS, China, De-dollarization, Global South, IMF, New Development Bank (NDB), Sanctions, Structural Adjustment, World Bank

The first day of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg saw calls for a more democratic global economic order with greater participation of countries from the Global South. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa set the tone by underlining that BRICS stands for inclusiveness and transparency in its development agenda and must continue to do so. Speaking on the second day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said that India fully supports the expansion of the bloc, adding that it welcomed “moving forward with consensus on this.” India also reiterated its proposal for the African Union’s membership in the G20.

‘A New Form Of Colonization’: Argentinian Workers Confront The IMF

July 29, 2023 Leonardo Erhardt, The Real News Network. Resistance Report Argentina, colonization, IMF, Working Class

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have a long history of plunging Global South nations into unsustainable cycles of debt. For Argentina, this process has been ongoing for decades, and is now reaching a breaking point. Since 2015, the Argentine peso has lost 80% of its value against the US dollar, leading to a cost of living crisis affecting a wide swath of society. The economic shock of the pandemic and the latest $44 billion IMF loan package delivered in 2022 have only made matters worse. In the second half of 2020, more than 40% of Argentinians were in poverty.

Corporate Profits Were Biggest Driver Of Inflation In Europe

June 27, 2023 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. Resistance Report Corporatism, Europe, IMF, Inflation

Corporate profits have been the biggest contributor to inflation in Europe since 2021. This is according to a study published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “Rising corporate profits account for almost half the increase in Europe’s inflation over the past two years as companies increased prices by more than spiking costs of imported energy”, wrote IMF economists this June. The IMF said “companies may have to accept a smaller profit share if inflation is to remain on track to reach the European Central Bank’s 2-percent target in 2025”. IMF economists Niels-Jakob Hansen, Frederik Toscani, and Jing Zhou detailed their findings in a research paper, “Euro Area Inflation after the Pandemic and Energy Shock: Import Prices, Profits and Wages”.

What’s Behind The US-Driven Reforms Coming To The World Bank?

June 14, 2023 Conor Gallagher, Naked Capitalism. Educate! Austerity, China, Debt, IMF, US Hegemony, World Bank

Change is coming to the World Bank. While not expected to be formalized until October, it looks like the two big shifts will involve climate change and a bigger emphasis on middle income countries. It’s difficult to predict exactly how the new mission will play out, but one thing is clear: the efforts are being driven by the desire to counter/thwart Beijing’s expanding global influence. Both Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan devoted chunks of their big China speeches in April to the subject. And it looks like the reforms will go hand in hand with pushing the debunked narrative that Chinese lending is a debt trap while also trying to relegate China to the backseat in the growing number of distressed countries.

Argentina Adopting US Dollar To Fight Inflation Would Be ‘Insane’

May 26, 2023 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. Educate! Argentina, Brazil, China, De-dollarization, Finance and the Economy, IMF, Latin America, Neocolonialism, US Dollar

The South American nation sometimes suffers from a current account deficit, and relies heavily on imports of oil, technology, and medical equipment. Low revenue from its mostly agricultural exports means that Argentina faces a chronic shortage of foreign currency – and most of the dollars it gets end up flowing out of the country to paying interest on the unsustainable external debt, draining the country’s foreign-exchange reserves and making it difficult to stabilize the national currency, the peso. National elections are approaching in October, and among the presidential hopefuls is far-right politician Javier Milei.

EU’s Withdrawal Of Tariffs On Ukrainian Grain Backfires

April 23, 2023 People's Dispatch. Resist! European Union (EU), Food and Agriculture, IMF, NATO, Russia, Ukraine, Wars and Militarism

European Union (EU) authorities and five eastern European countries are in a stand-off over the import of tariff-free grain from Ukraine. The decision to remove the tariffs on grain imports from Ukraine was taken by the EU in June 2022. However, eastern European countries such as Poland, Hungary, and Romania have been increasingly unhappy with the withdrawal of tariffs, citing the impact on their local markets. The disagreement boiled over last week when five countries — Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovenia — blocked the import of Ukrainian grain. A meeting on Wednesday, April 19, between EU authorities and representatives of the five countries did not lead to any breakthrough.

Argentina: Mass Demonstration Against Government Over IMF

April 22, 2023 Resumen English. Resist! Argentina, IMF, Mass Action, Unions, Worker Rights

Tens of thousands of piqueteros and piqueteras marched carrying torches this Wednesday from the Pueyrredón Bridge to Plaza de Mayo to repudiate the adjustment of the International Monetary Fund and above all to dedicate a chapter of their protest to the Government of Alberto Fernández and especially to the Minister of Social Development Victoria Tolosa Paz. The measure of struggle rejects the adjustment in the social area by the government of Alberto Fernández and demands genuine work, the opening of the Potenciar Trabajo program for those who need it and the integral assistance to the dining rooms, among other demands.

Pakistan Moves Towards Another IMF Bailout

January 29, 2023 Tanupriya Singh, People's Dispatch. Educate! climate crisis, Debt, Extreme weather, IMF, Pakistan

Almost all of Pakistan awoke to darkness on the morning of Monday, January 23, as the country experienced its second major power outage in four months. Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan announced that “unusual voltage and frequency fluctuation” had caused a widespread breakdown in the national grid. The outage was caused by a disruption in the power generation units, which the government was shutting down at night when the demand for electricity was relatively lower, as an “economic measure” amid a looming energy shortage. The fallout from the outage was dramatic—affecting not only water supply systems and hospitals, but also economic activities. Shahid Sattar, the secretary general of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, told AFP that 90% of factories had shut down on Monday, causing an estimated loss of $70 million.

Tanzanian Farmers Mobilize For Agroecology, Food Sovereignty And Pan-Africanism

November 26, 2022 Tanupriya Singh, People's Dispatch. Organize! Agroecology, Debt, Farmers, IMF, Tanzania

Hundreds of smallholder farmers gathered in the city of Morogoro on November 17 and 18 for the 27th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Mtandao wa Vikundi vya Wakulima Tanzania or the National Network of Small-Scale Farmers Groups in Tanzania (MVIWATA). The organization was founded in 1993 by self-organized farmers in the wake of the country’s first Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) under the IMF and the World Bank between 1986 to 1989. The neoliberal reforms ushered in during this period marked an absolute departure from Tanzania’s centrally-planned economy under socialist president and leading anti-colonial figure Julius K. Nyerere. In 1967, Nyerere issued the Arusha Declaration, committing Tanzania to the principles of socialism and self-reliance and paving the way for nationalization of key industries and the collectivization of agriculture.

Structural Adjustment By Any Other Name

November 6, 2022 Tanupriya Singh, People's Dispatch. Educate! Ghana, IMF, Kenya, Structural Adjustment

In October, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded another staff-level visit to Ghana, amid negotiations over a $3 billion loan to Accra under an Extended Credit Facility (ECF). Talks over the program, which will be Ghana’s 17th with the Fund since independence, were announced in July, in the wake of protests against worsening economic conditions. However, even as the situation grew more dire, progressive forces and unions in Ghana resolutely rejected any engagement with the IMF, recalling the disastrous impacts of previous arrangements. Ghana is not alone, in fact over half of the countries in Africa are currently either under, or are negotiating, an IMF program. “The ECF is a direct descendant of the infamous Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), a joint IMF-World Bank program that caused so much suffering in developing countries throughout the 1980s to 1990s, and led to socio-economic-political changes that reverberate to this day,” Dian Maria Blandina, medical doctor, researcher, and People’s Health Movement (PHM) activist, told Peoples Dispatch.

Protesters Outside IMF, World Bank Meetings Demand Climate Action

October 14, 2022 Channel News Asia. Resist! climate crisis, Climate Justice, IMF, Washington D.C., World Bank

Dozens of protesters demonstrated outside the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington DC on Thursday (Oct 13), expressing opposition to funding of fossil fuels and demanding urgent action to tackle climate change. Some of the activists gathered on bicycles and called for support for nations affected by climate change. They carried posters that said "World Bank of climate chaos", "stop funding fossil fuel", "People over profit" and "actions speak louder than words".

IMF Tells Bolivia To Drop Its Successful Economic Model

September 18, 2022 Kawsachun News. Educate! Bolivia, Finance and the Economy, IMF, Neoliberalism, Worker Rights and Jobs

The IMF released a report today on the Bolivian economy in which it recommends adopting drastic neoliberal measures, including; reducing workers’ salaries, cutting public investments, and ending currency controls. These policies have turned Bolivia from one of the poorest countries in the region into it’s fastest-growing economy. The report takes aim at the government’s spending on development, saying, “The government must restrict spending, including eliminating the end of year wage bonus for workers, they must restrict the growth of wages for public sector workers, and limit the growth of public investment and subsidies.” The ‘end-of-year wage bonus’ for workers (in both the public and private sector) refers to a policy introduced under Evo Morales that requires employers to pay their workers a bonus equal to double their monthly wage, but only if annual GDP growth is over 4.5%.

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