, Columnist
Who Should Help Ukraine? Not the IMF
The Fund’s $15.6 billion bailout contravenes 80 years of tradition and reinforces perceptions of bias that have angered developing nations.
Sri Lanka had to meet strict conditions for aid.
Photographer: Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images
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This week’s spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are being held amid grumbles from the Global South that are calling into question the postwar global financial architecture. That’s a problem for the West. Efforts to help Ukraine are making it worse.
Right now, the pandemic and inflation exacerbated by Russia’s invasion have driven a record number of developing nations to the brink of sovereign debt crises. Helping them should be the core task of the IMF and the World Bank.