The only thing I know about the JBIC is related to the 1997 Kerala Water Project where the JBIC made a 30 year loan set at 205 basis points above LIBOR when India could get the same loan for 50 basis points above LIBOR. There was also a scandal whereby the JBIC threatened to pull the loan if Japanese consultants were not used. It is unclear whether JBIC was corrupt or the Indian officials or both. Perhaps that was just an anomaly, but I have noted (at least in South Asia) that Japanese loans often come with many strings attached (whether the Japanese are worse than the WB is another issue). In Nepal, many of the loans given by Japan are used to fund Japanese contractors and consultant firms.
I am not aware of a substantial loan program from the EIB outside of the EU and Eastern Europe (except for a small loan to Malaysia for a gas pipeline - I think), but please correct me if I am wrong. I am not even sure how much the EIB gives to Eastern Europe as a percentage of its total loans.
You are correct that no one ever got rich taking loans from the IMF. But that was not my point. The resources of the IMF are useful for countries facing short-term balance of payments crisis (particularly primary product exporters). The resources of the IMF can be of significant assistance to countries undergoing transitions or facing crisis.
It should also be noted that the global South are not a bunch of beggars that should be sent wandering to the doors of the EU & Japan. The resources of the WB and IMF are partly composed of the contribution of these countries from the South (India was one of the major founding members - top 5 I think). Members of the IMF/WB have a right to access their own resources. Why should they abandon (as opposed to reform) the institutions they helped to build?
Vikash Yadav Philadelphia, PA
-----Original Message----- From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Dennis Robert Redmond Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2002 06:23 PM To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com Subject: RE: JEC on BWIs
On Thu, 14 Feb 2002, Vikash Yadav wrote:
> Simply starving the BW institutions only increases the power of the US
The EU/East Asia are the primary sources of loans to the South, and have been for some time.
> accountable to democratic regimes. At the same time the quota regime
within
> the IMF needs to be reformed to reflect the importance of the developing
> world in the world economy. It's a two-pronged strategy, and it is the
only
> way for the poor in developing countries to truly gain from the struggle.
Nonsense. No country has ever gotten rich by borrowing madly from the IMF. Plenty have gotten rich by expropriating their ruling elites and building developmental states. If the South wants to borrow anything at all, it should borrow from the EIB and JBIC.
-- Dennis