NGO report finds little flexibility in IMF loan conditions‏

Three European-based NGOs -- Solidar, Eurodad and the Global Network --today released a report on the compatibility of current IMF loans with decent work objectives. The 32-page report examines three recent loan programmes in El Salvador, Ethiopia and Latvia.

It finds that that while the IMF programmes allow slightly higher fiscal deficits on a temporary basis, they give little space to maintain or increase social spending since "the IMF expects the country to bring down the deficits to pre-crisis levels as soon as 2011". Below is a summary of the report prepared by the three NGOs. The full report can be downloaded from Eurodad's web site at: http://www.eurodad.org/whatsnew/reports.aspx?id=3850