THE CRISIS IS BACK, SO IS THE IMF

Öz

In the two decades preceding the year 2000, IMF-directed economic programs and policies increased the vulnerability of the economies of developing countries, and these programs were heavily criticized. All of these criticisms pointed out the need to restructure the Fund to make it more transparent, more unbiased, and more communicative. However, the current global economic crisis has resulted in the resurrection of the IMF in developing-country economies. Iceland, Hungary and the Ukraine applied to the Fund for Stand-By Arrangements, with conditionality clauses, supported by loans. However, they should keep in mind that it is generally accepted that IMF-supported programs have anti-growth effects; that irrespective of the country’s circumstances, the Fund proposes identical remedies; and that the imposition of austerity measures negatively affects the lower-income segments of society. IMF officials frequently ignore the views of the officials of the debtor countries and the Fund’s policies create moral hazard problems through the bailing out of international investors. Moreover, enforcing structural reforms without preparing the essential infrastructure and taking the necessary precautions negatively affects the economies of developing countries

Anahtar Kelimeler

• IMF Programs,Developing Countries

KRİZ GERİ DÖNDÜ, IMF DE

Öz

Yirminci yüzyılın son 20 yılında IMF tarafından hazırlanan ve uygulanan ekonomik programlar pek çok gelişmekte olan ülke ekonomisinin kırılganlığını artırmış ve ağır eleştiriler almıştır. Bu eleştiriler IMF’nin daha şeffaf ve tarafsız bir şekilde yeniden yapılanması gerektiğine işaret etmişlerdir. Ancak mevcut ekonomik kriz ile birlikte IMF gelişmekte olan ülke ekonomilerinde tekrar canlanmaktadır. İzlanda, Macaristan ve Ukrayna krizin etkilerini azaltmak amacıyla IMF ile yapısal değişim koşulları içeren ve IMF kredileriyle desteklenen Stand-By anlaşmaları yapmışlardır. Bu ülkelerin göz ardı etmemeleri gereken gerçekler vardır: IMF programları ekonomik küçülmeye yol açar, farklı ülke koşullarına rağmen benzer reçeteler sunulur ve toplumların dar gelirli kesimleri daraltıcı politikalardan zarar görür. Ayrıca program uygulayan ülkelerdeki yetkilileri göz ardı etmesi ve uluslararası yatırımcıların kriz yaşayan ülkelerden zarar görmeden ayrılmasını sağlaması IMF’nin eleştirildiği diğer konulardır. IMF programlarıyla dayatılan yapısal reformların gerekli altyapı hazırlanmadan hayata geçirilmesi program uygulayan ülke ekonomilerini olumsuz etkilemektedir

Anahtar Kelimeler

• IMF Programları,Gelişmekte Olan Ülkeler

Kaynakça

1. Barro, Robert J. and Jong-Wha Lee (2002), “IMF Programs: Who Is Chosen And What Are The Effects?”, NBER Working Paper, No. 8951, May.
2. Crook, Clive (1991), “Survey: The IMF And The World Bank”, The Economist.
3. DeLong, J. Bradford, Richard N. Cooper and Benjamin M. Friedman (1999), “Financial Crises in the 1890s and the 1990s: Must Histoty Repeat?” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Vol. 1999, No. 2, pp. 253-294.
4. Dornbusch, Rudiger (2002), “A Primer on Emerging-Market Crises.” In Sebastian Edwards and Jeffrey A. Frankel, eds., Preventing Currency Crises in Emerging Markets, The University of Chicago Pres, Chicago.
5. Edwards, Sebastian (1989), “The International Monetary Fund and The Developing Countries: A Critical Evaluation,” Carnegie Rochester Conference Series On Public Policy, No. 31, pp. 7-68.
6. Eichenbaum, Martin (1999), “[The IMF Approach to Economic Stabilization]: Comment”, NBER Macroeconomics Annual, No. 14, pp. 122-127.
7. Eichengreen, Barry (1999), Toward A New International Financial Architecture, Institute For International Economics, Washington DC.
8. Fischer, Stanley (1997), “Applied Economics in Action: IMF Programs”, The American Economic Review, Vol. 87, No. 2, pp. 23-27.

9. Fischer, Stanley (1999), “Reforming the International Financial System”, The Economic Journal, Vol. 109, No. 459, pp. F557-F576.
10. Goldberg, Linda S. (2002), “When Is US Bank Lending to Emerging Markets Volatile?”. In Sebastian Edwards and Jeffrey A. Frankel, eds., Preventing Currency Crises in Emerging Markets, The University of Chicago Pres, Chicago.
11. Haque, Nadeem Ul and Mohsin S. Khan (1998), “Do IMF Supported Programs Work? A Survey Of The Cross-Country Empirical Evidence”, IMF Working Paper, No. WP/98/169.
12. Hutchison, Michael M. (2001), “A Cure Worse Than The Disease? Currency Crises And The Output Costs Of IMF-Supported Stabilization Programs”, NBER Working Paper, No. 8305, May.
13. IMF (2001), “IMF Approves Augmentation of Turkey’s Stand-By Credit to US$ 19 Billion”, Press Release, No. 01/23, May 15.
14. IMF (Independent Evaluation Office) (2003), Evaluation Report: The IMF and Recent Capital Account Crises, Indonesia, Korea, Brazil, International Monetary Fund Publication Services, Washington DC.
15. IMF (2008a), “IMF Completes Voluntary Separations Phase of Organizational Restructuring”, Press Release, No. 08/94, April 29.
16. IMF (2008b), “IMF Announces Staff Level Agreement with Iceland on US $ 2.1 Billion Loan”, Press Release, No. 08/256, October 24.
17. IMF (2008c), “IMF and Hungary Agree on Policies to be Supported by International Community”, Press Release, No. 08/260, October 26.
18. IMF (2008d), “IMF Creates Short-Term Liquidity Facility For Market-Access Countries”, Press Release, No. 08/262, October 29.
19. IMF (2008e), “IMF Approves US $ 16.4 Billion Stand-By Arrangement for Ukraine”, Press Release, No. 08/271, November 5.
20. IMF (2008f), “IMF Executive Board Approves € 12.3 Billion Stand-By Arrangement for Hungary”, Press Release, No. 08/275, November 6.
21. Krueger, Anne O. (1998), “Whither The World Bank and The IMF?”, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 1983-2020.
22. Özgür, M. Erdem. (2004), The Economic Crisis in Turkey:2000-2001, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, George Mason University, Fairfax.
23. Rogoff, Kenneth (2003), “The IMF Strikes Back”, Foreign Policy, No. 134, pp. 38- 46.
24. Rosas, Guillermo (2006), “Bagehot or Bailout? An Analysis of Government Responses to Banking Crises”, American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp.175-191.
25. Stiglitz, Joseph E. (2000a), “What I Learned of the World Economic Crisis The Insider,” The New Republic Online, http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=413dd501-eede-4c1f-9549- 1ad070e65fe8, (Erişim Tarihi: 09.11.2008).
26. Stiglitz, Joseph E. (2000b), “The Contributions of the Economics of Information to Twentieth Century Economics”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 115, No. 4, pp. 1441-1478.
27. Stiglitz, Joseph E. (2002), Globalization and Its Discontents, W. W. Norton & Company, New York.
28. Summers, Lawrence H. (2000), “International Financial Crises: Causes, Prevention and Cures”, The American Economic Review, Vol. 90, No. 2, pp. 1-16.
29. Vasquez, Ian (2002), “A Retrospective on the Mexican Bailout”, Cato Journal,Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 545-551.
30. Yeldan, Erinc (2001), “On the IMF-Directed Disinflation Program in Turkey: A Program for Stabilization and Austerity or a Recipe for Impoverishment and Financial Chaos?” Bilkent University, Department of Economics, September.
31. Zhang, Peter G. (1998), IMF and the Asian Financial Crisis, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., Singapore.