Reports this week of an International Monetary Fund bailout for Russia have brought renewed calls by the administration to pass the $18 billion U.S. contribution to the IMF. Although Congress is close to releasing $3.5 billion of the funding, it should resist the temptation to approve the rest until the IMF guarantees it will institute much-needed reforms of its policies, which have devastated the poor in developing countries.
As a result of those policies, many developing countries have cut spending for health and education. To meet IMF conditions, countries also are eliminating their minimum wage and discouraging organized labor activity in order to attract multinational corporations.
Contrary to the Chicken Little warnings of the administration, the IMF has more than enough funds available to do its job for now. But if Congress releases the funding without guarantees of reform, it will remove any incentive that the IMF may have to change its policies. The poor, particularly the children, deserve much better.
