Arrested Development: International Monetary Fund lending and austerity post Covid-19

7th October 2020

Arrested Development: International Monetary Fund lending and austerity post Covid-19

A review of International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff reports for 80 countries, conducted by Eurodad, illustrates a dismal decade ahead for developing countries.

The IMF reports were prepared as part of the process of approval for financial assistance between March and September of 2020. They reveal an insufficient and inadequate multilateral response to the Covid-19 pandemic which will lock a large number of countries in a decade-long crisis of debt and austerity.

The need to protect and increase investment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a fair and green recovery features in every public intervention by IMF officials. However, these commitments are difficult to find in IMF program design. IMF programs are on track to arrest development efforts in the next decade.

Report by Eurodad