Bangkok, Thailand – As the IMF and World Bank conclude their Annual Meetings in Bangkok, the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) met on Saturday and the Development Committee met on Thursday. These committees are major leadership and policymaking bodies for the IMF and World Bank.
Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network and a United Nations finance expert who monitors IMF, G20 and World Bank meetings, releases the following statement on the committees and Bangkok World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings:
"Overall, the meetings are incredibly disappointing.
"The meetings claim that economic growth is continuing, while extreme poverty increased, more countries are in crisis, growth is historically at low levels, income gaps widened and we saw too optimistic economic growth projections based on AI investments.
"The bursting of the economic AI bubble is a threat as IMF analysis reveals.
"The AI bubble bursting is no longer a question of if, it is now a matter of when.
"Countries asked the IMF to do more work on the major economic challenges posed to the economy by AI.
"With a continuing energy crisis, soaring food prices, high debts and rising inflation, the news from these meetings is quite dark.
"The IMF emphasized the need to stabilize the economies of many countries which requires reducing debt.
"We lack a reliable path for countries that need debt relief to receive it.
"There are new tools that can help countries with better debt sustainability analysis that officials endorsed.
"We are concerned that it may take longer for the IMF to signal when country debt levels are at crisis point.
"The reforms to conditionality approved at the meeting may require more dramatic austerity measures in poor countries.
"The meetings missed an opportunity for decisive actions to contain Ebola.
"The IMF has tools to stop Ebola, like the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility. But the IMF did not take action.
"As countries struggle with soaring food and energy bills, rising debt payments and less income, the World Bank discussed rapidly lending more money to countries.
"The Bank mobilized new private lending of $112 billion in the last year. Conversations focused on how this lending can and should be used.
"The new private lending must be transparent and ensure positive development and job creation.
"We are concerned when private investment is guaranteed by the World Bank because it could prevent a country in crisis from restructuring that debt.
"I am worried that the private lending the World Bank is organizing could still bypass the countries with the most severe development and job creation challenges.
"New private investments can't succeed in countries with serious debt problems, unless those countries receive debt relief.
"Countries need more grants, aid and concessional loans.
"Amidst fuel, food and cost-of-living crises, we saw Bangkok decision makers want to get more resources for the International Development Association or the arm of the World Bank that provides aid and low-cost loans to the poorest countries.
"Ahead of the meetings, the IMF head referenced the Game of Thrones television show. She referred to the economy as 'winter is coming.' We leave Bangkok feeling as if winter has already arrived."
Read Jubilee USA's press release on IMF raising artificial intelligence issues for the global economy here.
Read Jubilee USA's Statement on the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable meeting here.
Read Jubilee USA's press release on the World Economic Outlook and Global Financial Stability Report here.
Read Jubilee USA's press release on the opening of IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings here.
Read Jubilee USA's press release on IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva's curtain-raiser speech here.
Read Jubilee USA Petition for IMF Support to Fight Ebola here.
Read more about Jubilee's Annual Meetings events here.
