The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, have been advised to focus on their core mandates to kickstart the needed reforms in the financial architecture of the globe.
According to Professor Joshua Yindenaba Abor, the immediate past Dean of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), the concentration of the two Bretton Woods institutions on their core mandates will help in the attainment of sustainable financial growth across the globe particularly, the African Continent.
In his view, the IMF should focus more on ensuring the attainment of macroeconomic stability of member countries with the World Bank on the other hand, concentrating on providing technical assistance in facilitating private capital flows and being the lender of last resort to countries.
“I believe looking at the Bretton Woods institutions and even the regional development banks, there is the need for them to focus on their core mandates. So IMF needs to focus more on surveillance of the world economy and also ensuring that macroeconomic stability among member countries is attained. The World Bank and regional development banks should concentrate on providing technical assistance in facilitating private capital flows and also serving as lender of last resort to member countries that are affected by crises,” Prof Abor posited.
Speaking further in the virtual launch of the book titled, Contemporary Issues in Development Finance, Prof. Abor questioned the use of conditionalities by the IMF, stating it is often biased against developing countries and viewed by developing countries as costly and intrusive.
Adding reforms sought to be implemented by the IMF during a crisis tends to frighten private sector participants.
“Once you try to restructure as a condition for a facility, market players react; they think there are serious problems in the economy and that makes it difficult to restore confidence in the market. You promote moral hazard, so lending institutions and borrowing institutions would engage in acts that lead to moral hazard.”
“We need to look at reforming the entities themselves [IMF and World Bank]. Emerging economies, developing countries need to be given the opportunities to contribute resources to the institutions as opposed to being net borrowers. If we are seen as net borrowers, then we take whatever is given to us. We should be given greater representation on the board, voting rights, and the appointment process must be open,” he emphasised.
The book – Contemporary Issues in Development Finance – edited by Prof Abor, Charles Komla Delali Adjasi and Robert Lensink, provides a comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of theoretical and policy issues in development finance from both the domestic and external finance perspectives and emphasises addressing gaps in financial markets.
The chapters cover topical issues such as microfinance, private sector financing, aid, FDI, remittances, sovereign wealth, trade finance, and the sectoral financing of agricultural and infrastructural projects.
