world bank
The World Bank is a lending organization used by developing nations in need of finances to help provide relief from financial difficulties. Some would say that the World Bank helps countries by giving them valuable finances which developing countries need in order to bring about financial reforms. Others argue that that the World Bank has another agenda and that it only lends money to the developing nations in order to push the countries into policies of trade liberalization and privatization. This essay will examine the argument that despite claiming to reduce poverty in poorer nations the World Bank actually adds to the destabilization of the developing countries. In particular this essay will look closely at the new World Bank policy called the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and how this initiative is again being used as bargaining power over the developing world rather than helping to alleviate debt problems which was its original purpose. This topic is of particular relevance as this new initiative has only recently been implemented and the way in which it used will be of great importance to developing nations as they struggle to recover from growing debt in the next few years.
"A good example of the liberalization of trade is seen within the many developing countries which produce coffee. The most successful country who participated in this liberalization program was Vietnam who went from being a relatively small player in the coffee market to one of the largest. Since receiving recommendations similar to this from both government members and NGO's the World Bank has tried to initiate some reforms. The same policy prescriptions are handed out no matter what the situation in the country. Instead developing countries are left with more questions than answers. The Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) which was introduced in 1999 requires the countries that in order to qualify for debt relief to they must go through a number of stages. A study of Uganda by the World Bank in 1993 advised the Ugandan Government to plan for a greater share of the world coffee market. In 1998 the US Congressional Advisory Commission recommended several changes to the World Bank. They have done so in ways that, all too often, have served the interests of the more advanced industrialized countries - and particular interests within those countries - rather than those of the developing world. Eade, D (1999) argues that the concept of development is far from a liberating process for all. It is these countries who have difficulty borrowing on international markets or can only do so at high interest rates. The World Bank describes itself as a specialized agency rather than a bank. Between July 1998 and June 2001, coffee export prices declined by almost 50 percent. In the case of the loans, countries have 35-40 years to repay, with a 10-year grace period (World Bank, 03). It is clear that in recent times there has been support for strong reform of the World Bank.
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Acceptance Essays
