IMF’s tough love gets even tougher
AS world leaders gather in Washington this week for the World Bank and IMF Spring meetings, the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) has launched important research examining the policy changes the IMF currently requires borrowers to make. Eurodad sought to answer the now often-posed question: Has the IMF changed?
The question is a relevant and important one, not least in the Irish context, where the IMF’s role in the troika programme is shrouded in secrecy. Three years after the December 2010 troika agreement, the current Irish Government does not identify the precise stance of each troika member on the possibility of debt cancellation. There is anecdotal evidence that the IMF was the better of three evils in the troika as it supported partial cancellation of the socialised banking debt in Ireland, which was opposed by the ECB/EC.
