International Monetary Fund

Venezuela’s US-Backed Coup Leader Immediately Targets State Oil Company, Requests IMF Money

GrayZone Project — The right-wing opposition leader that the United States is trying to undemocratically install as Venezuela’s president immediately set his sights on the country’s state-owned oil company, which he is hoping to restructure and move toward privatization. He is also seeking money from the notorious International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fund his unelected government.

Ecuador Bows to US and IMF, Entering New Neoliberal Era

The warmth displayed by authorities over the past month to visiting U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and the IMF, respectively, further proves that Ecuador is melting back into the arms of international financial interests. (MPN Op-ed) — Ecuador’s passionate re-embrace of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) offers one of the clearest and most dramatic signs that the country’s […]

Ecuador Bows to US and IMF, Entering New Neoliberal Era

QUITO, ECUADOR – Ecuador’s passionate re-embrace of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) offers one of the clearest and most dramatic signs that the country’s leadership is dead-set on shedding any vestiges of the “post-neoliberal” era it was said to have entered a decade ago during former President Rafael Correa’s Citizens’ Revolution.

Pleasing Investors at the Expense of the People, Argentina Sells out to the IMF

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA — Days before Christmas of 2001, a 54-year-old Argentine woman named Norma Cecilia Albino shoved her way past the throngs of demonstrators protesting the government’s new banking restrictions, walked into a bank branch in a northern Buenos Aires neighborhood, strolled to the counter, and asked to withdraw a few pesos from her account.

Sunday’s Athens Rally a Moment of Truth for Greeks under Thumb of EU-Imposed Austerity

ATHENS, GREECE (Analysis) – Hundreds of thousands of Greeks took to the streets of Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, on Sunday, January 21, in a mass rally opposing a compromise on the part of the Greek government regarding the Macedonia name dispute with Greece’s northern neighbor, temporarily recognized by the United Nations as the “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (FYROM).

Temer’s pension reforms face stiff opposition

Brazil’s unions have planned a day of struggle to protest Temer’s proposed social security reform bill. The president is already very unpopular in Brazil; polls show voters want him to be accountable for alleged corruption [Xinhua]
Brazilian President Michel Temer is facing a tide of opposition regarding his promise to reform the social security program.
Many among his supporters see the reform initiative as damaging to their relection bids in the general election next October.

Rapid urbanization a challenge for BRICS countries

Major cities in Brazil, China and India are witnessing rapid urbanization [Xinhua]
The Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur will next week host the Ninth Session of the World Urban Forum to discuss the challenges societies as more people move to the cities.
The forum titled, Cities 2030, Cities for All: Implementing the New Urban Agenda, will focus on the efforts of major countries, such as China, India, and Brazil to overcome the challenges posed by rapid urbanization.

Economists are playing catch-up with economic reality

Economic growth forecasts for 2018 have been ratcheted higher as data exceeds expectations
Growth rates in BRICS nations such as China and Russia have exceed expectations of the IMF and other forecasts [Xinhua]
The news that China’s GDP growth in 2017 was 6.9 per cent as opposed to the government target of 6.5 per cent and the January 2017 international Monetary Fund (IMF) projection of 6.5 per cent is merely the latest in a sequence of economic data releases that has pushed economists to play catch-up with economic reality.