IMF and World Bank are losing clout in developing countries

[crimepaysintheusa]

5. Imf caused HUGE INCREASE IN DEATH RATES DUE TO STARVATION IN AFRICA

PROFITS OF FAMINE

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Africa/Profits_Famine.html

The situation is similar in Malawi where, in 2001, the IMF told the government to slash its strategic grain reserve from 165,000 metric tons (MT) to between 30,000 and 60,000 MT. The IMF advocated this on cost grounds, and because erroneous data persuaded them that the coming year's harvest would increase stocks. A year later, when people were already beginning to die of starvation, the IMF denied disbursement of a $47 million tranche of loans to the Malawian government amid accusations of impropriety in the government's efforts to mitigate the famine. The government accused the IMF of causing the famine, while the IMF blamed the government for corruption before admitting that it had, perhaps, behaved insensitively. Horst Koehler, managing director of the IMF, said at a British parliamentary hearing:
n the past we (the IMF) have not given enough attention to poverty and social safety nets when proposing structural changes. But structural changes are always accompanied by dislocation. We must live with permanent change in order to achieve economic growth in developing countries. .. [developing countries] should be able to produce food for themselves-and we should help them strengthen capacity to produce food.
Meanwhile, thousands were starving, and grain was being stockpiled by speculators betting that the famine would drive up maize prices-behaving, in short, precisely as they ought in a free market with high demand and a tight supply.