IMF should introspect, ensure they don't have mission drift: Sitharaman

'Expectations pinned on multilateral institutions are being frittered away because no solutions are coming out of them'

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should look into its evaluation exercise and introspect and make sure its resources were available for all countries through short term concessional financing, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday.

 

She said that the evaluation exercise being undertaken by the World Bank should be more transparent, consultative and reflect the interests of all countries being helped by the Bretton Woods institutions.

 

“Bretton Woods institutions should not now allow themselves to have a mission drift. They should not get into domains which are not their area of core operations…I would want the IMF to address this issue,” finance minister said while speaking at a panel discussion on Bretton Woods at 80: Priorities for the next decade. 

 

 

She said that if this issue was not addressed it would impact the global monetary systems which the world cannot afford. 

 

“A shifting in thinking in the Bretton Woods institutions, to meet the needs of the next decade, is absolutely necessary,” Sitharaman added. 

 

She also called for greater access to information to the borrowing countries by the multilateral development institutions.

 

“Are you going to look at it only from your point of view and the donor point of view, and not from the recipient point of view?” Sitharaman said.

 

FM said that India has always stood in favour of multilateral institutions.

 

“But progressively we see the hope and the expectations which are pinned on multilateral institutions are frittered away because we think no solutions are coming out of them.”

 

The FM said that India wants to enhance its influence in the world as one in every six persons in the world is Indian. “No country, the US which is very far away from us, or China, which is very close to us, cannot ignore us.”