Greek Loan Is Immoral and Violates IMF Rules

Greek Loan Is Immoral and Violates IMF Rules

Developing countries should be expected to protest. They are the main candidates for future IMF loans, and so feel they have the most to lose through fund diversion. The poorer members do not have the political or economic strength to stand up to Europe, but the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China) do. The BRICs have contributed to the IMF's expanded coffers and need to worry about the husbanding of those resources.

The IMF is supposed to be lender of last resort. Europeans want it to be among the lenders of first resort in this crisis. Greece can, after all, borrow from the markets, but it will have to pay 7% interest. Instead of relying on market discipline, the Europeans seek to use IMF to organize a rescue package with an interest rate averaging maybe 5%. This implicit interest subsidy is justified by saying Greece will default if it has to pay 7 % interest. Maybe, but many analyses suggest that Greece is fundamentally insolvent and will likely default anyway.

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