Reply #53: Is the IMF an Endangered Species in Asia?

[54anickel]

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000039&refer=columnist_pesek&sid=aDypalC2I9SE

May 9 (Bloomberg) -- It's baaaaaaaaaaaaack!

The reference here is to the so-called ``Asian Monetary Fund.'' Such an animal was mulled during Asia's 1997-98 crisis and quickly died amid strong U.S. resistance to Asia creating a counterpoint to the International Monetary Fund.

Last week's meeting of the Asian Development Bank marked its resurrection. At least that was the scuttlebutt in the hallways and watering holes of Istanbul, where the ADB's annual confab was held this year.

Its creation could have major consequences for the global elites and the so-called ``Washington Consensus'' on how developing nations should go about raising living standards for their swelling and often poor populations.

The idea came up in September 1997, amid worsening crises in Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea. The IMF was holding its annual meeting in Hong Kong and Asia pushed the idea of an Asia- only bailout fund to provide assistance to economies with fewer strings attached than the IMF required. At the time, the IMF was demanding high interest rates and fiscal tightening, policies that worsened the crisis.

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