World Bank on aid losses through corruption

Chris Burford cburford at gn.apc.org
Wed Aug 19 16:01:32 PDT 1998


At 09:02 AM 8/19/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Today, Aug 19, the WSJournal reports the World Bank estimating 20% of Bank
>project money in Indonesia was siphoned off by officials. For development
>funds generally they estimate 20 to 30%. I've seen other, higher, figures
>on this list, maybe up to 50%. Anyone care to comment?
>
>Randy Earnest

I suspect a degree of cultural arrogance in this. Although Suharto's cronies appear to be widely detested, the giving of gifts to establish trust, social status, and reliability is not a silly custom, even if it not very progressive. These sorts of headlines, are designed to justify a thorough bourgeois revolution in business practices, which will benefit major transnational companies.

Chris Burford



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