[stop-imf] UK Holds Back WB Contribution over Structural Adjustment

[robert weissman]

  UK withholds World Bank donation
* The UK is withholding =A350m it had pledged to the World Bank in protest
at conditions it attaches to aid. *

International Development Secretary Hilary Benn voiced concerns that the
Bank is telling poorer nations how to run their affairs.

He is concerned that the Bank has been demanding too strict conditions
before giving aid to developing countries.

Mr Benn said the Bank had a duty to help those in poverty despite the
actions of their governments.

The Bank has for a long time insisted that the countries it lends to
meet economic targets and has encouraged trade liberalisation.

In addition, since taking over as head of the Bank last year, World Bank
chief Paul Wolfowitz has made it his mission to tackle corruption in
poorer countries.

His campaign has led to hundreds of thousands of dollars of loans and
contracts to countries like Chad, Congo, Ethiopia and Bangladesh being
suspended.

* Campaign attacked *

However, it has also drawn significant criticism from charities and
pressure groups.

Mr Benn has also told Mr Wolfowitz that the UK is unhappy with the lack
of progress at removing strict conditions on financial assistance.

Last year, the UK provided =A31.3bn to the Bank to help poorer countries
and promised to donate a further =A350m in 2007, provided it eased the
strings attached to aid.


=09* On other issues, particularly economic policy, developing countries
ought to take their own decisions *
Hilary Benn, international development secretary

However, Mr Benn has said he will now delay handing over the cash until
he is satisfied the World Bank has eased its position.

The UK had taken the stance as it opposed World Bank efforts to impose
damaging policies that force poorer countries to liberalise their markets.

"Most people would agree that if you're invading your neighbour, if
you're oppressing your population or if you're taking aid money and
spending it on other things, then we shouldn't stand for that and we
won't," Mr Benn told the BBC.

"Britain doesn't and nor does the World Bank and we should attach
conditions in those circumstances.

"But on other issues, particularly economic policy, developing countries
ought to take their own decisions and I do believe that this is one of
the ways that we can increase the voice of the poorest countries of the
world," he added.

* Decision-making *

Campaigners such as Christian Aid and Oxfam have attacked the World
Bank's demands, saying they often leave people in developing countries
worse off than before.

"Imagine what life would be like if you had to run every decision you
made by your bank manager and if he or she didn't like it, you would
have to change it," Christian Aid policy manager Anna Thomas said.

"That is the reality for many poor countries and they can't just switch
accounts."

Christian Aid points to the example of Ghana where the World Bank's
demand for a ban on tariffs and subsidies for the poultry market has led
to an influx of cheap European imports and seen many thousands of
Ghanaians lose their jobs and livelihoods.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/5344752.stm