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The G20 and the IMF: Banking on the fund

 

Published 4/8/2009 at The Economist: Full print edition

The IMF is getting more resources to support the world economy. If it is to succeed, it needs more reform IT IS easy to be cynical about the recent G20 summit in London. There was lots of hoopla, but there were no new, substantial remedies for the global slump, whether in the form of co-ordinated stimulus or comprehensive plans to clean up banks. So the world’s leaders diverted attention with an old formula: bandying around big but squishy numbers and blathering about the importance of international institutions. Even by the standards of global summitry, the G20 communique was pretty brazen. It crowed about a “concerted fiscal expansion” of $5 trillion by the end of 2010, as well as $1.1 trillion in “additional resources” through international institutions like the IMF. The $5 trillion figure seems to be an estimate of how much public finances could deteriorate by the end of 2010—not exactly the same as a planned fiscal boost. And the $1.1 trillion is even ... (link)

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