American economist Prof. Steve Hanke has averred that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gets ‘hostages’ by way of poor countries that become heavily indepted to it.
His view was to dispute one advanced by Kenyan president William Ruto that the IMF had become a ‘hostage’ to rich nations.
Ruto restated a view he has recently advanced that international creditors like the IMF and World Bank were hostage to rich nations hence his call for a new multilateral lender to address climate crisis.
“Kenya’s president William Ruto says the IMF is “hostage” to rich nations. He’s got it wrong. Poor nations who become heavily indebted to the IMF become “hostages”,” he stated in reaction to Ruto’s comments as carried by the Financial Times newspaper.
A number of African countries, citing the impact of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war have applied for and received bailouts from the Washington-based lender.
Ghana, Senegal and Ivory Coast are West African countries currently under IMF programme as well as Zambia.
Kenya's president William Ruto says the IMF is "hostage" to rich nations. He's got it wrong. Poor nations who become heavily indebted to the IMF become "hostages."https://t.co/aNun8pSOgg
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) June 28, 2023