July 7, 2000
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not impose conditions and policies on African countries, the IMF chief has said.
IMF managing director Horst Koehler told a news conference at the end of a one-day visit to Mozambique late Thursday that instead it will give priority to dialogue.
"The IMF is not here ... to lecture, to force, to dominate with something governments do not want", the IMF chief said. Koehler said that all his institution wanted is to give "the best advice with the best expertise we have". He warned, however, that the IMF had to be serious to safeguard its money.
Countries undergoing economic reforms backed by the IMF and the World Bank have accused the IMF of dictating conditions for its aid.
Koehler left Mozambique on Friday morning for neighbouring South Africa on the last leg of an African tour.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not impose conditions and policies on African countries that are not in their interests, the IMF chief has said.
"The IMF will not insist on building ... conditionalities which are not in the countries' interest and will not help the countries solve their problems," IMF managing director Horst Koehler told reporters here late Thursday.
"The IMF is not here ... to lecture, to force, to dominate with something governments do not want," the IMF chief said.
Speaking at the end of a one-day visit to Mozambique, Koehler said that the IMF would instead give priority to dialogue. Koehler said that all his institution wanted was to give "the best advice with the best expertise we have." He warned, however, that the IMF had to be serious about safeguarding its money.
Countries undergoing economic reforms backed by the IMF and the World Bank have accused the IMF of dictating conditions in return for aid.
World Bank and IMF policies have notably been blamed for the collapse of the thriving cashew nut industry in Mozambique. Most Mozambican cashew nut processing plants have closed due to lack of raw materials, for the loss of nearly 10,000 jobs, since the liberalisation policies imposed by the Bretton Woods institutions, which used to encourage massive exports of unprocessed nuts to India.
Similarly, the IMF and the World Bank have forced Mozambique to scrap surtax on imported sugar, a move seen here as threatening the recovering local sugar industry. President Joaquim Chissano and Planning and Finance Minister Luisa Diogo raised the sugar tax issue during separate meetings with Koehler on Thursday.
Koehler said he had told the minister and the president that they should await the results of a study being carried out by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) to find the best solution. But for the Mozambican finance minister, "conditionalities in the IMF will continue, in principle." She told AFP that open dialogue with the IMF was most crucial.
Koehler left Mozambique early Friday for neighbouring South Africa on the final leg of his five African-nation tour. He has already been to Nigeria, Senegal and Cameroon.
Koehler, who took over the top job at the IMF in May, is making his first visit to Africa since his appointment.
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