The IMF 2011

In recognition of the unprecedented attention accorded to the International Monetary Fund (a topic previously ignored by all but the most dedicated internationalists and economists and therefore relegated to discussions of World Economy) in the wake of the “DSK affair”, we opted to create an IMF page. It is to be hoped that the new-found media interest in the succession and the debate concerning the lock of Europe – and predominantly France – on the job of Managing Director will lead to increased focus on what the IMF does and how.

8 November
IMF chief fears economic ‘lost decade’
(Al Jazeera) Christine Lagarde says global economy risks plunging into a “downward spiral of uncertainty and financial instability”.
[Speaking at a financial forum in Beijing] The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Europe’s debt crisis risks plunging the global economy into a “lost decade”, saying it is up to rich nations to shoulder the burden of restoring growth and confidence [and that] European plans to bolster a rescue package for Greece were a “step in the right direction”,
G-20 Balks at IMF Aid on Europe’s Failure to Stem Crisis
(Bloomberg) World leaders balked at writing new checks to help bail out the euro-area, demanding its own governments first do more to fix the two-year-old debt crisis.
Global policy makers demanded more details of a week-old rescue package before they commit fresh cash to the International Monetary Fund, which could then lend to Europe’s bailout facility, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the end of a Group of 20 summit in Cannes, France. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said a deal may not come before February.
3 November
Calls grow for G20 to boost IMF
(Emerging Markets) There is mounting speculation that G20 leaders will agree to double the IMF’s resources to combat a burgeoning economic and financial crisis
14 October
Talks over IMF lending boost inch forward
(Emerging Markets) Finance ministers from leading emerging economies have expressed willingness to provide the IMF with additional funding, but a deal is unlikely this month
Brics back IMF funding increase but urge faster reform
(Emerging Markets) Leading emerging market policymakers backed calls to boost the IMF’s lending capacity but called for an acceleration of governance reforms
Emerging countries in talks on IMF boost
(FT) Emerging market countries are working on ways to contribute money rapidly to expand the effective firepower of the International Monetary Fund, with the aim of increasing its role in combating the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.
The discussions, in parallel with talks in the eurozone about creating a bigger “bazooka” to intervene in financial markets, are aimed at producing a confidence-boosting announcement by the Group of 20 heads of government summit next month.
24 September
Row erupts over eurozone crisis response
(Emerging Markets) A row over how to resolve the European sovereign debt crisis broke out yesterday at the IMF meetings in Washington, threatening to trigger a fresh wave of volatility when markets open tomorrow. The US and the UK led public calls on eurozone finance ministers to take more decisive action to prevent the crisis in Greece spilling over to the rest of the eurozone.
29 August
The world economy A call to arms
(The Economist) … by far the most hard-hitting words at this year’s Jackson Hole symposium came from Christine Lagarde, the former French finance minister and new managing director of the IMF.
The world economy, she said, was entering a “dangerous new phase” driven by a sense that “policymakers do not have the conviction” to take decisions that are needed. That must change, and now. Ms Lagarde laid out a bold to-do list to support growth, including a forced capital injection into Europe’s banks, aggressive new action to deal with America’s foreclosure crisis, and a broad rebalancing of fiscal priorities.
23 August
Dominique Strauss-Kahn is free after NY courts let prosecutors drop sex-assault case
5 August
France and the IMF — Awkward questions for Lagarde
(The Economist) this week a French court ordered a criminal probe into Ms Lagarde’s actions in her previous role as France’s finance minister. … Soon after her appointment to the ministerial job in 1997, Ms Lagarde became involved in a court battle pitting Bernard Tapie, a colourful businessman and former politician from Marseilles, against Crédit Lyonnais, a bank which had come under state protection following its near-bankruptcy. … Ms Lagarde was already a controversial choice for boss of the IMF; developing economies loudly protested at the appointment of yet another European. Now she no longer boasts the advantage of being free of any suggestion of scandal.
5 July
Raghuram Rajan: Lagarde’s Challenges
Now that the dust has settled over the selection of the International Monetary Fund’s managing director, the IMF can return to its core business of managing crises. Christine Lagarde, a competent and well-regarded technocrat, will have her hands full with three important challenges.
The first, and probably easiest, challenge is to restore the IMF’s public image.
The second, and perhaps most difficult, challenge facing Lagarde, is the mess in Europe, where the IMF has become overly entangled in eurozone politics.
The third challenge for Lagarde concerns the circumstances of her election. It is not inconceivable that a number of emerging-market countries will get into trouble in the next few years. Will the Fund require the tough policy changes it has demanded of countries in the past, or will Lagarde’s need to show that she is not biased towards Europe mean that future IMF interventions will become more expansive and less demanding? A kinder, gentler Fund is in no one’s interest, least of all the distressed countries and the world’s taxpayers.
Finally, there is a challenge that seems to be pressing, but is not. In her campaign for the position, Lagarde emphasized the need for diversity among the IMF’s top management. But what is really needed is the selection and promotion of the best people, regardless of national origin, sex, or race.
1 July
Strauss-Kahn released without bail
(Reuters) – Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was released without bail on Friday after a dramatic court hearing where the sexual assault case against him appeared to shift in his favor.
The turnabout could upend French politics. … Strauss-Kahn’s supporters in the French Socialist party voiced delight at the apparent reversal and some said they hoped he might re-enter the 2012 presidential race. (WSJ) Manhattan DA Is Put on Defensive — Vance’s About-Face on Bail in Sexual-Assault Case Follows Two High-Profile Court Defeats for Office ; (NYT) Strauss-Kahn Accuser’s Call Alarmed Prosecutors : The story of the woman’s six-week journey from seemingly credible victim, in the eyes of prosecutors, to a deeply unreliable witness, is drawn from interviews with law enforcement officials, statements from the woman’s lawyer and a letter from prosecutors to Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s defense team released in court on Friday. Some of the events were confirmed by both law enforcement officials and the women’s lawyer; others rely solely on law enforcement officials. In the end, it was the prosecutors’ assessment of the housekeeper’s credibility that led them to downgrade their confidence in the case and agree on Friday that Mr. Strauss-Kahn could be freed from house arrest.
Extraordinary timing!
(Reuters) – The sexual assault case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was close to collapse on Friday, sources close to the case said, in a dramatic turnabout that could upend French politics again
30 June
Strauss-Kahn Case Seen as in Jeopardy
(NYT) The sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is on the verge of collapse as investigators have uncovered major holes in the credibility of the housekeeper who charged that he attacked her in his Manhattan hotel suite in May, according to two well-placed law enforcement officials.
Although forensic tests found unambiguous evidence of a sexual encounter between Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a French politician, and the woman, prosecutors now do not believe much of what the accuser has told them about the circumstances or about herself.
It said prosecutors had discovered issues involving the asylum application of the 32-year-old housekeeper, who is Guinean, and possible links to criminal activities, including drug dealing and money laundering. The paper added that prosecutors had discovered that the woman had had a phone conversation with an incarcerated man within a day of her encounter with Strauss-Kahn in which she discussed the possible benefits of pursuing the charges against him. The conversation was recorded.

The New York Times quoted what it said were two well-placed law enforcement officials as saying that although forensic evidence showed there had been a sexual encounter between the Mr. Strauss-Kahn and the maid, the accuser had repeatedly lied. It added that the man, who had been arrested on charges of possessing 400 pounds (180 kg) of marijuana, was among a number of individuals who had made multiple cash deposits, totaling around $100,000, into the woman’s bank account over the last two years.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s defense team had hired Guidepost Solutions, a New York based investigations firm, to work on the case and was also in the process of consulting with TD International, a consulting firm run by former CIA officers and U.S. diplomats. Another source close to the case said that the district attorney’s office took the case to a grand jury without fully checking out the woman’s bona fides.“Just about everything that was reported on this woman early on was untrue but no one checked or wanted to believe anything else,” the source told Reuters.

28 June
Christine Lagarde named IMF head
(The Guardian) French finance minister, who succeeds Dominique Strauss-Kahn, becomes first woman to hold top IMF job
Lagarde From a Woman’s Perspective
Washington will notice for sure that its new IMF boss has arrived. Christine Lagarde plans to bike to work, a concept inconceivable from her smart but not exactly fitness-oriented predecessor.
When I interviewed Lagarde at France’s Finance Ministry earlier this month , she was so certain that she’d get the job that she asked me — a former Washington resident — for advice about which neighborhood to live in. Lagarde, once a competitive synchronized swimmer and a member of the French national team, wants to ride her bike to work. She’ll bring it with her from Paris.
That bike says a lot about how Lagarde will run the IMF. (OK, she may take the limousine when it rains.) She’s not going to be an imperious boss. In fact, the woman who recently complained about “too much testosterone in trading rooms” is eager to strike a collaborative chord. She told me she wants to start out with town hall-style meetings, getting to know the IMF’s director and huge staff.
26 June
Lagarde set for IMF job, wins over emerging nations
Lagarde, 55, is expected to get the majority of support from IMF member countries guaranteeing her win over Mexico’s Central Bank Governor Agustin Carstens and making her the first woman to lead the global institution.
Assuming she gets the official nod, Lagarde will have to immediately deal with an IMF-EU effort to keep debt-stricken Greece afloat and focus on potentially thorny IMF “spillover reports” that analyze the economic and policy actions of the world’s major economies.
24 June
Canada endorses Mexican bank chief for top IMF post
(Ottawa Citizen) The announcement was made late Friday afternoon, in a news release issued by the federal finance department. In the carefully worded document, Canada and Australia issued a joint statement on the hotly contested race for the managing director of the IMF.
10 June
Lagarde in pole position for IMF job as Manuel quits race</a>
9 June
IMF race thrown wide open as Manuel enters the fray
South Africa set to nominate former finance chief Trevor Manuel for IMF top job, turning race on its head as nominations deadline reached
(Emerging Markets) The announcement is expected to be made on Friday as Lagarde arrives in Lisbon in a bid to canvass African support for her candidacy at the African Development Bank’s annual meeting.
The news is likely to send shockwaves through official circles which had seen Lagarde’s victory in the race … until now as effectively a done deal.
… it emerged on Thursday that Brazil would likely plump for Lagarde, despite intensive lobbying by South Africa and Mexico, which is fielding Agustin Carstens, its central banker, for the role although he has so far met with lukewarm support.
The news shatters hopes that the powerful BRIC grouping would unite behind an emerging markets candidate.
6 June
Light-weight BRICS How IMF voting shares compare with global economic heft
MANY argue that IMF vote-shares (and the amounts countries are required to put into the fund’s kitty) should reflect countries’ relative economic heft. At the moment, however, that is far from being the case. Taken together, the economies of the European Union countries amount to just under 24% of the global economy. The economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa together make up about 21% of world GDP. But the European countries have 32% of the votes in the IMF, while the BRICS have 11%. No wonder the BRICS’ representatives to the fund issued a rare joint statement deploring Europe’s lock on the top job at the IMF, which is made possible in part by the fact that Europe and America between them have nearly 50%of the votes in the IMF’s board. Proportionately, sub-Saharan Africa, (excluding South Africa) is the most over-represented region, with 3.1% of the vote but a mere 1.35% of the world economy.
5 June
IMF: developing nations yet to find serious rival to Lagarde
(The Guardian) The deadline for applications is approaching but the developing nations have yet to unite behind their own candidate
4 June
Is France’s Christine Lagarde the one to rescue the global economy?
(Globe & Mail) Her predecessor, Mr. Strauss-Kahn, understood the crisis as, at base, one of trade imbalances, with the poorer European nations becoming dependent on the exported goods – and the exported credit – of the wealthier ones, such as Germany and France.
To prevent debt from pooling up in the periphery of Europe again, he frequently suggested in off-the-record discussions, it would be necessary to integrate Europe’s economies much more tightly, uniting their fiscal plans and some aspects of their national budgets in a continent-wide plan. He had been pushing Europe carefully in that direction.
Will Ms. Lagarde carry on that effort? And does she have the economic intuition and political clout to transform an entire continent, the largest economy in the world, into something that won’t crash so easily again?
27 May
Jeffrey Frankel: Who Should Lead the IMF?
(Project Syndicate) I count nine emerging-market candidates who are unusually well qualified to lead the IMF. Six seem to be live candidates, and they come from all parts of the world:
· Agustín Carstens, the governor of Mexico’s central bank, has been described as the leading prospect among the group. But even Latin America is not unifying behind him (Brazil has not been supportive), let alone other developing countries;
· Arminio Fraga, the former governor of Brazil’s central bank, is another good candidate with extensive experience. But it is not clear that Latin America’s other governments are prepared to unify behind someone from the region’s largest country. Indeed, it seems that any candidate linked to a large regional power is more likely to provoke jealousy than solidarity from others;
· Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who has excelled as Singapore’s finance minister and was just promoted to Deputy Prime Minister, is my favorite. (Full disclosure: he was my student at Harvard in 1988-1989.) In March, he was chosen to head the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the panel of ministers that advises the IMF on strategy twice a year. He has strong political skills, and, coming from a non-threatening country, might be the sort of candidate behind whom emerging markets could unite;
· Sri Mulyani Indrawati is another highly qualified candidate from Southeast Asia. She became one of the World Bank’s three managing directors last year, after apparently being forced out as Indonesia’s finance minister for doing too good a job. Incidentally, she is young and could be an excellent candidate next time around too (as could the first three);
…
June 10 is the deadline for nominations. Any of the nine would do a good job. Personally, I would urge emerging-market countries to support Shanmugaratnam. But it is far more likely that they will remain divided. In that case, it will go to Lagarde.
26 May
The IMF — Time for a change
Why a euro-zone finance minister, even a talented one, should not lead the IMF
(The Economist/Leader) … emerging economies, which have long argued that the fund should have a non-European boss, have so far conspicuously failed to fix on an alternative candidate.
… the stitch-up, whereby the head of the IMF is a European and the head of the World Bank is an American, is a disgrace. International posts should be filled according to merit. And the growth of emerging economies makes it even less defensible.
Moreover, the case against appointing a euro-zone finance minister as head of the IMF now is overwhelming. The main issue facing the fund is the euro zone. The fund is supposed to be an impartial arbiter of good economic policy. It is the only organisation likely to force a rethink of the euro zone’s failed strategy towards Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
It is still not too late for emerging economies to unite around a different candidate, and for America to support their choice. Europe’s monopoly of the IMF’s leadership has long been an anomaly. It is time that it ended.
Decoding DSK
(The Economist/Charlemagne) What his fall says about transatlantic differences in attitudes to sex, power and the law
25 May
David Prosser: Lagarde is wrong: her nationality is both handicap and advantage
(The Independent) … the Europeans (and the French, in particular) have had a long-enough stint exercising their right to run the IMF. Even leaving aside the fact that they have not always done the job terribly well, the sheer scale of the Brics’ economic power commands that authority is shared. Now is the time to do so.
All that said, the Brics have a problem. They may have put on a show of unity in attacking the European prerogative, but they will also have to come up with a credible candidate to counter Ms Lagarde. Nationality matters, but so do the sort of credentials that the Frenchwoman possesses. And in agreeing on that candidate, the Brics, which are a much more disparate group than the EU, may face a bigger challenge even than overturning convention.
So far, the much-admired Agustin Carstens of Mexico is the only declared candidate from the developing economies. He must now build the same coalition of support that Ms Lagarde can depend on. And if he can’t do that, the Brics must find someone else.
One-horse race will ill serve the IMF
(FT) A united challenge would force Ms Lagarde to spell out in more detail how she would lead the IMF. Let a true contest begin.
(FP Morning Brief) French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde declared her candidacy to lead the IMF while the BRICS countries issued a joint statement calling for an end to the European domination of the organization.
24 May
NGOs Call for IMF Head to Be Chosen by Double Majority
(IPS) – More than 100 civil society groups called Monday for the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be approved by a majority of its 187 member countries, as well as a majority of the voting shares that are heavily weighted in favour of the world’s wealthiest countries.
In a letter addressed to the IMF’s Board of Governors, the non- governmental organisations (NGOs), including the Bretton Woods Project (BWP), Oxfam, and Third World Network (TWN), said such a requirement was the best way to ensure an “open, merit-based, transparent process” for determining the successor to the former managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Changes needed at troubled IMF
by Martin Khor, Executive Director of the South Centre
It has been increasingly recognized that the convention that the IMF chief must be a European while the World Bank President should be an American can no longer be justified.
The two leaders should be selected from persons from any country according to merit, and not on the basis of their being European or American, which is a colonial or neo-colonial principle.
Candidates from developing countries should have an equal chance, especially since these countries have increased their share of global GNP, and many of them (especially China and other Asian nations) have large foreign reserves.
French government says China backs Lagarde for IMF
(Reuters) Lagarde has emerged as the leading candidate … although Mexico is pushing its central bank chief as an alternative and many emerging nations say it is time for Europe’s 60-year grip on the job to be loosened. … [BUT] China’s foreign ministry said it had no comment on whether Beijing would back Lagarde. Last week, the head of China’s central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan, said the International Monetary Fund’s leadership should reflect the growing stature of emerging economies, but he stopped short of saying its new boss should be from an emerging economy.
Analysis: Asia’s reticence costs it a shot at IMF power
(Reuters) – The world’s power brokers lined up candidates to head the IMF while Asia held back, and its silence means it will probably have to wait five more years to break Europe’s grip on the top spot.
22 May
Britain endorses Lagarde as new IMF chief
(Reuters) – Britain endorsed French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde as an “outstanding candidate” for IMF chief on Saturday, the first G7 country to officially back her as Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s successor.
Lagarde has been touted by many European governments, but developing countries, with growing clout in the world economy, are keeping pressure on Europe and the United States to avoid a backroom deal over the appointment.
In a good summary of the prevailing situation, the Globe & Mail’s Kevin Carmichael writes that With IMF race heating up, a choice for Mr. Harper “Unlike many of his counterparts, Mr. Harper is in a position to propose a world-class candidate. The Oxford-trained Mr. Carney is widely respected for not only his work at home, but his contributions to global policy discussions. There would be no accusing Canada of grandstanding. Mr. Carney’s economic credentials are as good as anyone’s.”
Unfortunately, if one judges from past international performances, it seems unlikely that Mr. Harper and his people have prepared the terrain well enough (if at all) to manage the file vis à vis the European common front.
19 May
Europe and Asia Battle Over IMF Post
Emerging Economies Seek Sway, but U.S. Appears to Back Naming of European
(WSJ) The fund’s six-decade tradition calls for appointing a European to lead it, but the post now comes open amid a shift in the longtime balance of global economic power. Emerging-market nations, arguing that their new strength should be reflected in senior management of the IMF, are pressing for more say in the body, which directs the flow of billions of dollars to stabilize the global economy.
“There’s no logic to the tradition that the IMF is run by a European,” Thailand’s Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said by telephone Thursday. “The world has come a long way in the past three or four years.”
Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigns as head of IMF
The IMF’s executive board released a letter from Strauss-Kahn dated 18 May, in which the former managing director denied the allegations against him and went on to say that it was with “infinite sadness” that he presented the board with his resignation.
18 May
Why Is the IMF Chief Always a European? Because Europeans choose him.
(Foreign Policy) … when was it agreed that the IMF should always be run by a European? It never really was. The policy is a long-standing “gentlemen’s agreement” under which the IMF managing director is a European and the World Bank president is an American. There’s no mention of the director’s nationality in the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, which state only that the director is appointed by the organization’s executive board. The voting rules are set up so that countries with the highest “quotas” — a measure of the size of their economy and economic viability — are given preference for membership. In practice, for most of the IMF’s history, this has meant that the United States and Western Europe have dominated the board.
Emerging Markets May Name Strauss-Kahn’s Heir: Simon Johnson
(Bloomberg) Even before the shocking events of the past few days, the international policy community had been contemplating a successor to Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the International Monetary Fund.
The world’s big emerging markets have … waited a long time for an opportunity to compete for the IMF job. Events since the financial crisis of fall 2008, and Strauss-Kahn’s legal problems, now conspire to throw the succession process wide open.
The communique from the April 2009 London summit of the Group of 20 nations was interpreted as signaling that Europe should give up its guaranteed hold on the IMF’s top position. But even as the U.S. and the rest of the world turned the economic corner, Europe slid deeper into crisis.
There are at least seven strong emerging-market candidates for managing director and all of them would likely be tougher on troubled European countries than would Lagarde. All of these candidates have had hands-on experience running tight policies under difficult circumstances while working hard to sustain growth.
Europe and Asia Set for Battle over Top IMF Post
(Spiegel) …  Europe, mindful of the fund’s role in the debt crisis, wants to keep the system of having a European at the helm. But emerging economies say it’s time for a change, heralding a dispute over the succession.
The post is traditionally occupied by a European; a French national has run the IMF for 26 out of the past 33 years. But a power shift at the fund towards emerging nations could lead to a bitter dispute over the succession this time round, with analysts saying China may decide to flex its muscles to try to get an emerging market candidate into the job. … Other names being put forward include Turk Kemal Dervis, a promising candidate if the post is not to go to a European, while men from India, Mexico and South Africa are also in the running. Their prospects will hinge on whether the governments of emerging nations can agree on a compromise candidate this time. (BBC) Fight for IMF top job goes global Singapore’s finance minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, former South African finance minister Trevor Manuel and Kemal Dervis, Turkey’s former minister of economic affairs are possible successor, according to former IMF official Eswar Prasad.
Battle commences for top job at IMF
(FT) Emerging market countries argue it is unacceptable for Europe and America to continue to stitch up the top jobs even as developing nations take a growing share of the global economy
The IMF needs another European head
(FT) IMF’s most important programmes are European. The eurozone’s contagious crisis constitutes the biggest threat to global stability, says Wolfgang Münchau
17 May
It’s always good to know that we can count on the National/Financial Post for the ultra Right viewpoint. Peter Foster: Tartuffe takes down the IMF
In the wake of this week’s dramatic first-class cabin takedown, Bank of Canada head Mark Carney was bruited as a potential candidate for the top IMF job. China and Brazil too were quick to press claims for a non-European candidate. Mr. Carney, who is no stranger to pretensions of multi-polar macro-prudence, has declared that the IMF “must become more effective.” Milton Friedman had a better idea: Scrap it.
16 May
(Council on Foreign Relations Analysis) IMF’s Crisis-Management Challenge
BOC’S Carney: European Support Discussions Going Ahead
(MNI) Financial support of European countries in trouble will not be harmed, or affected, by the present scandal surrounding IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said Monday.
Peppered with questions at an Ottawa news conference about the likely effects of the scandal on the IMF and on world financial issues, Carney said creation of a European bailout package is being addressed at various levels and is “bigger than one individual.”
The Fall of the Global Economy’s Top Steward
(Spiegel) Dominque Strauss-Khan is as much a charmer as he is a banker, making him an unusual choice to head the IMF. But his stewardship of the institution during the global financial crisis drew praise. The rape allegations now lodged against him are creating havoc for a summit addressing the rescue of the euro this week.
5 May
Joseph E. Stiglitz: The IMF’s Switch in Time
(Project Syndicate) The crisis has also put to the test long-standing dogmas that blame labor-market rigidity for unemployment, because countries with more flexible wages, like the US, have fared worse than northern European economies, including Germany. Indeed, as wages weaken, workers will find it even more difficult to pay back what they owe, and problems in the housing market will become worse. Consumption will remain restrained, while strong and sustainable recovery cannot be based on another debt-fueled bubble.
As unequal as America was before the Great Recession, the crisis, and the way it has been managed, has led to even greater income inequality, making a recovery all the more difficult. America is setting itself up for its own version of a Japanese-style malaise.
For progressives, these abysmal facts are part of the standard litany of frustration and justified outrage. What is new is that the IMF has joined the chorus. As Strauss-Kahn concluded in his speech to the Brookings Institution shortly before the Fund’s recent meeting: “Ultimately, employment and equity are building blocks of economic stability and prosperity, of political stability and peace. This goes to the heart of the IMF’s mandate. It must be placed at the heart of the policy agenda.”
Strauss-Kahn is proving himself a sagacious leader of the IMF. We can only hope that governments and financial markets heed his words.
13 April
BRIC wants changes in World Bank, IMF leadership
Developing world powerbrokers Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — known collectively as BRIC — are preparing a formal position demanding that leadership positions within the World Bank and International Monetary Fund be made available to emerging countries. The U.S. and European countries have dominated management structures in both institutions for more than six decades. Bloomberg (4/13)
15 February
IMF urges global monetary reform
Organization’s chief Strauss-Kahn calls for China’s yuan to be included in international currency basket
(Globe & Mail) The IMF chief said without changes to the global system the world could be sowing the seeds of the next economic crisis. He said global economic imbalances were back and issues such as large and volatile capital flows, exchange rate pressures and rapidly growing excess reserves were threatening economic stability.
9 February
(IMF Press Release) IMF Performance in the Run-Up to the Financial and Economic Crisis: IMF Surveillance in 2004-2007 Download the Report (PDF)