World Bank and IMF — Keeping Pakistan in shackles
On 11th December 2024, while replying to a question in Pakistan’s National Assembly, the federal finance minister admitted for the first time that since 2019, and while under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, gas prices increased by a record 840% and electricity tariffs rose over 110 %. Both developmentsContinue Reading
The Project of Austerity in the Global South: Four decades of eroding the social contract and resistance for paradigm transformation
For over four decades, the ascendance of fiscal austerity as a multifaceted political and economic project within the larger ambit of structural adjustment has shaped the economic, political, and social realities of countries and communities across the Global South. In the context of an international financial architecture that provides littleContinue Reading
Is the WB-IMF paradigm suitable for the Global South?
The feminist movement has denounced since the 1970s and 1980s the harmful role of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (WB-IMF) in the Global South. In the 80’s, the Latin American and Caribbean, African and Asian feminist movements were strong in denouncing the connection between austerity measures and theContinue Reading
No to more continued failings by the World Bank and IMF
For 80 years, the IMF and World Bank have played a key role in the global financial system. However, both institutions have failed to provide resilience and stability to global finance. Their interventions in debt crises have often worsened social and economic inequalities. By focusing on austerity measures, promoting neoliberalContinue Reading
80 years of IMF and World Bank Colonisation of the World — The Sri Lankan Experience
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently become a prominent topic in Sri Lanka due to the austerity measures it proposed to address the country’s debt crisis. These measures have increased taxes for ordinary citizens, even as the previous interim government warned that Sri Lanka would face further difficulties ifContinue Reading