FACE THE FACTS!

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

>From Friends of the Earth-US's weekly fact sheet "Face the Facts: How the
Global Economy Harms People and the Environment,"  here are very useful
facts on effects of the IMF bailouts


FACE THE FACTS!
How the Global Economy Harms People and the Environment


IMF Bailouts Cost People and the Environment

	· The major player in the bailouts of last year's global financial
crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), tied far-reaching economic
policies to its loans which resulted in serious social and environmental
impacts. 

	· In order to meet IMF fiscal targets, environmental programs have
been slashed in many of the crisis countries: 

	· Brazil - government spending on environmental programs has been
slashed by two-thirds;(1) 

	· Russia - the budget for protected areas was cut 40%;(2) 

	· Indonesia - budget cuts have forced Jakarta, one of the world's
most polluted cities, to suspend all environmental programs.(3) 

	· A UN survey concludes that governments' ability to address the
social fallout of the Asian economic crisis has been hindered in some
cases by the conditionalities of IMF bailout packages: 

	· Indonesia * percentage of the population living in poverty
increased from 11% to 40% between 1997 and 1998; 

	· Thailand * poverty rate rose from 11% to 15% during 1998; 

	· Korea * unemployment increased from 2.6% to 7.7% in 1998.(4) 

	· The poor around the world are suffering the impact of the
financial crisis.  The World Bank concludes that the global financial
crisis will contribute to the lowest growth rates in developing countries
since 1982.(5) 

	· In a poll conducted by management consultant AT Kearney, 80% of
top Asian business executives said IMF-sponsored solutions for Asia's
economic recovery have failed.(6) 

 1. Diana Jean Schemo, "Brazil Slashes Money for Project Aimed at
Protecting Amazon," New York Times, January 1, 1999. 
 2. Communications with Russian and Pacific-rim based NGOs. 
 3. Stevie Emilia, "Crisis Forces Jakarta to Sacrifice Its Environmental
Programs," Jakarta Post, July 2, 1998. 
 4. Survey by UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific,
United Nations Information Service, April 8, 1999.
 5. World Bank Press Release, April 7, 1999.
 6. "IMF Measures Failed In Asia," Singapore Business Times, August 29, 1998.


Sara Zdeb
Friends of the Earth
1025 Vermont Ave. NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005-6303
Tel.: 1-202-783-7400 ext. 220
Fax: 1-202-783-0444
szdeb@foe.org