War-torn Iraq, quake-ravaged Haiti, conflict-devastated Sierra Leone. So many countries around the world face the legacy of terrible hardships that have left them scarred and fragile.
Everyone agrees that countries need help to recover from these situations. But it is not easy to come to a shared understanding on what this really takes.
Some have questioned whether the IMF has a meaningful role to play. They argue that engagement in fragile states—countries with weak institutions and infrastructure, internal conflict, and governments that face difficulties delivering core services to the population—should mainly be left to bilateral donors and development institutions.
And they couldn’t be more wrong. Helping a country’s economy to work better—the IMF’s core expertise—is a central building block to move beyond fragile situations and achieve better lives for its citizens. (more…)
Filed under: concessional lending, IMF, International Monetary Fund, LICs, Low-income countries | Tagged: capacity building, conflict-affected states, Extended Credit Facility, Fostering Engagement with Fragile States, fragile states, IMF, IMF-supported program, iMFdirect, International Monetary Fund, low-income countries, middle income countries, multi-donor trust fund, program design, Rapid Credit Facility, sustainable macroeconomic framework, technical assistance | 1 Comment »
