Norway “seeks the truth” on Bank conditionality
The Norwegian government, whose aid money cannot be spent on programs that require trade liberalization and privatization, hosted an inter-governmental meeting in November to assess the extent to which the World Bank and IMF still require developing countries to pursue privatization and liberalization as a condition of support. An independent study commissioned for the meeting, determined that while the World Bank and IMF are still pushing privatization and trade liberalization in their development policy lending, it is less pervasive than in the past. It also concluded that governance conditions are increasingly taking the place of economic policy prescriptions, and that developing government “ownership” over Bank and Fund policies is still weak.

Fallout at Bank and Fund meetings in Singapore
The Work Bank and International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) fall meeting in Singapore from September 19-20, were mired in controversy this year. In the days prior to the meeting, it became clear that Singapore intended to ban numerous accredited organizations from entering the country. In response, groups unilaterally boycotted the official program.  Organizers of the parallel International Peoples Forum in Batam, Indonesia, reported that 54 individuals from 17 groups were detained at the Singapore airport without explanation, and subjected to custodial interrogation and deportation. Many groups felt that, with IMF reform and good governance and corruption on the agenda, the choice of Singapore as the venue for the meetings underscored the superficial nature of the Bank and Fund reform agenda.

PDF of Full Report available here

Nous regrettons qu'en 2006, l'initiative d'Halifax n'a pas produit de version Francaise.

Report Card on the Canadian Department of Finance “2005 Report on Operations Under Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act”

Introduction
Every year at the end of March,[1] the Department of Finance tables its report on the operations of the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWI) [2] before Parliament and details activities at these institutions in relation to Canadian priorities, commitments and interests. The reports provide some good background information on the institutions themselves, on emerging issues and challenges within the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), and some brief details on Canadian priorities and financial participation at these institutions.