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The Impacts of the IMF and the World Bank Essay

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The Impacts of the IMF and the World Bank

The World Bank and the International Monetary fund make up major parts of the UN's Economic sector. For both institutions the groundwork was laid in the Bretton Woods conference. The World Bank's initial task was to facilitate reconstruction in the post- World War II Europe. It generates capital fund from member state contributions and from international financial markers. Its loans are not designed to replace private capital but to facilitate its operation by funding projects that private banks would not support, e.g. primary education. The World Bank also attaches conditions of its loans in the form of policy changes it would like to see states make to …show more content…

They were therefore, almost forcing their loans on to others, particularly on middle-income countries such as those of Latin America. At the same time, developing countries, faced with prices of oil and other imports, which were rising faster then their export prices, were only too eager to absorb foreign loans to bridge the gap. This could go on well for some time but then interest rates began to rise, causing serious strain on the annual payments stream. The Debt crisis came about, and it was centralized mainly in Latin America. Their budgets were out of control and hyperinflation set in. The crisis was triggered by the default of Mexico: it ran out of foreign currency in August 1982, and other countries followed. Immediate help was offered by the IMF, but in the loner term the problem was solved by "rescheduling". This usually meant a reduction in the interest rates payable and a lengthening of the repayment period, so that the annual burden was lightened: it also commonly involved new lending to get through a critical transition period. In 1982, over twenty countries were renegotiating and by the end of 1983 seventeen Latin America countries had adjustment agreements with the IMF. Thus, the IMF had helped avoid a major crisis with the coming of the coming of the Debt dilemma.

The World Bank had its positive

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