For Immediate Release
Contact: Christopher Frenze March 4, 2002
Executive Director
(202) 225-3923
HEARING ANNOUNCEMENT: Reform of the IMF and World Bank
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Joint Economic Committee (JEC) will hold a hearing on reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank on Wednesday, March 6, 2002, Chairman Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) announced today.
"This hearing will provide the Committee an opportunity to examine the extent of progress to date in reforming the IMF and World Bank," Saxton said. "While some improvements have been made in recent years, fundamental reform of both international financial institutions is still needed to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Fortunately, the Bush Administration has proposed substantive changes in international economic policy that are the most significant in many decades.
"For example, the President's Council of Economic Advisers recently recommended that the IMF charge penalty interest rates and use shorter loan terms in its liquidity lending. The Administration has also proposed a shift in World Bank assistance towards grant financing for the poorest countries. This eminently sensible aid proposal naturally has been under attack from defenders of the status quo. However, the history of high failure rates of World Bank projects shows the need for reforms that will improve the effectiveness of aid to help the world's poorest," Saxton concluded.
HEARING TOPIC: Reform of the IMF and World Bank
TIME: 10:00 a.m.
DATE: Wednesday, March 6, 2002
ROOM: 311 Cannon House Office Building
WITNESSES: Allan H. Meltzer, Former Chairman, International Financial Institution Advisory Commission (IFIAC); Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
Adam Lerrick, Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the IFIAC; Director of the Carnegie Mellon University Gailliot Center for Public Policy
C. Fred Bergsten, Director, Institute for International
Economics; Member, IFIAC