Friday, Aug 15, 2003
Nobel Laureate lambasts IMF
By Haroon Habib
DHAKA AUG. 14. The American Nobel laureate economist, Joseph E. Stiglitz, has come down heavily on the International Monetary Fund, saying the Asian financial crisis could have been averted had the countries avoided the funding agency's policy prescription.
The visiting Professor of Finance and Economics of Columbia University in New York made the observation at a lecture on "Economic Security of a Least Developed Country" at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies on Wednesday.
He, however, said the truth remains that "many countries could not afford to displease the IMF."
Prof. Stiglitz made some suggestions for exploiting Bangladesh's economic growth potential.
Prof. Stiglitz, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001, arrived here on Wednesday morning on a four-day visit to Bangladesh.
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