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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/04/19/87-imf-loans-forcing-austerity-crisis-ravaged-nations-analysis">commondreams.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">87% of IMF Loans Forcing Austerity on Crisis-Ravaged Nations: Analysis</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits"></div>April 19, 2022<br></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p><strong>The conditions of nearly</strong>
90% 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 <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/international-financial-institutions/imf-covid-19-financing-and-fiscal-tracker">published</a> Tuesday by Oxfam International revealed.</p><p>"The IMF must suspend austerity conditions on existing loans and increase access to emergency financing."</p><p>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."</p><p>This stands in stark contrast with IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva's <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2021/12/08/don-t-suffocate-recovery-with-austerity-politics-imf-chief-georgieva-warns-europe">admonition</a>
to the European Union last year that the wealthy bloc should not
endanger its economic recovery with "the suffocating force of
austerity."</p><p>"This epitomizes the IMF's double standard,"Â Oxfam International senior policy adviser Nabil Abdo <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/imf-must-abandon-demands-austerity-cost-living-crisis-drives-hunger-and-poverty">said</a> in a statement. "It is warning rich countries against austerity while forcing poorer ones into it."</p><p>At
the start of the pandemic, the IMF issued billions of dollars in
emergency loans to developing countries with few or no conditions.
However, the institution has reverted to its highly controversial
practice of requiring nations to impose the type of austerity measures
that have <a href="https://www.bu.edu/gdp/2021/04/05/imf-austerity-is-alive-and-impacting-poverty-and-inequality/">exacerbated</a> poverty and inequality, <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/04/19/ecuador-lasso-oil-climate-imf-world-bank-debt-austerity/">stymied</a> countries' efforts to meet climate goals, <a href="https://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/2019/12/uprising-and-discontent-global-protests-erupt-against-imf-backed-policies/">fueled global unrest</a>, and even <a href="https://dlib.bc.edu/islandora/object/bc-ir:102118/datastream/PDF/view">played a key role</a> in sparking revolutions.</p><p>The
Oxfam report notes that the conditions of a 2021 loan of $2.3 billion
to Kenya compelled the country to freeze public sector pay for three
years, while mandating higher taxes on food and cooking gas.</p><p>"More
than three million Kenyans are facing acute hunger as the driest
conditions in decades spread a devastating drought across the country,"
Oxfam notes. "Nearly half of all households in Kenya are having to
borrow food or buy it on credit."</p><p>Sudan has had to end fuel
subsidies, a policy that has disproportionately affected the nearly 50%
of the population that is impoverished.</p><p>"The country was already
reeling from international aid cuts, economic turmoil, and rising prices
for everyday basics such as food and medicine before the war in Ukraine
started," said Oxfam. "Over 14 million people need humanitarian
assistance (almost one in every three people) and 9.8 million are food
insecure in Sudan, which imports 87% of its wheat from Russia and
Ukraine."</p><p>Oxfam's analysis also found:</p><ul><li>Nine nations
including Cameroon, Senegal, and Surinam must introduce or increase the
collection of value-added taxes (VAT), which often apply to everyday
products like food and clothing, and fall disproportionately on people
living in poverty; and</li><li>Ten countries including Kenya and Namibia
are likely to freeze or cut public sector wages and jobs, which could
mean lower quality of education and fewer nurses and doctors in
countries already short of healthcare staff. Namibia had fewer than six
doctors per 10,000 people when Covid-19 struck.</li></ul><p>"The
pandemic is not over for most of the world," said Abdo. "Rising energy
bills and food prices are hurting poor countries most. They need help
boosting access to basic services and social protection, not harsh
conditions that kick people when they are down."</p><p>"The IMF must
suspend austerity conditions on existing loans and increase access to
emergency financing," he added. "It should encourage countries to
increase taxes on the wealthiest and corporations to replenish depleted
coffers and shrink widening inequality. That would actually be good
advice."</p><p>Oxfam's analysis comes as the IMF's annual spring meetings get underway in Washington, D.C.</p><p>Last week, the leftist group Progressive International <a href="https://progressive.international/movement/article/2022-04-15-inquiry-into-imf-hears-calls-to-take-the-fund-to-the-international-court-of-justice-over-illegality-impunity-and-disregard-for-human-rights/en">held an inquiry </a>into
the IMF at which lawyers, experts, and parliamentarians from nine
nations recommended actions from bringing the institution under the
United Nations' Economic and Social Council to taking it to the
International Court of Justice over its alleged "illegality, impunity,
and disregard for human rights."</p></div></div></div>
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