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El Fondo Monetario Internacional: características principales, condicionalidad y ajuste macroeconómico
Registro en:
ISSN: 1562-384X
Autor
Reyes-Ortiz, Giovanni-Efrain
Institución
Resumen
The International Monetary Fund-IMF- has played a central role in the functioning of the international monetary system. In several cases, this institution has acted as a useful forum for consultation and cooperation in international monetary relations, but in other respects it is a provider of financial resources for monetary problems, especially in the developing world. According to its principles, one of the main functions of the Fund is to finance temporary payment problems and, second, to promote adjustment to permanent imbalances through conditionality programs. This conditionality has made the Fund's influence highly controversial. According to various Third World analysts, the Fund's policies have not ensured that the adjustment of member countries is consistent with the requirements of international economic stability. It is also argued that the Fund has not been supplementing the stock of international reserves, and its task of smoothing the payment adjustment process by monitoring and providing loans in support of adjustment efforts has been hampered by its limited resources. and its inflexible mode of operation. This is only part of the controversial role. Another controversial result is the contraction of effective demand for most people in the counties that have implemented the Fund's conditionality programs. The role that the IMF plays within the international economic system is not only very important - particularly for Third World nations - but can also be crucial during specific periods. For example, from the summer of 1992 to the autumn of 1993, when the United Kingdom and Italy went through a critical phase within the European Monetary System and other leading economies, the IMF loaned a total of $ 15.3 billion. At that time and in terms of debt with the fund, Europe went from 12 percent (1992) to 21 percent (1993), and only Russia represented 6 percent of the total. More recently, during the international financial crisis of 1997-1998, the fund donated no less than $ 180 billion to mitigate critical economic conditions in Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Russia and Brazil. The first part of this document will present the main organizational and functional characteristics of the IMF, the second part will indicate the main characteristics of conditionality and macroeconomic adjustment programs. The third and final part will present the economic concepts and general theoretical foundations of economic adjustment initiatives especially for developing countries.