Underskog

There is again much discussion of the roles of multilateral organizations such as the
*World Bank and International Monetary Fund. They are criticized for being dominated by Northern governments, for imposing harmful economic policy conditions, for environmental devastation and for failing to respect local peoples’ rights.

Proposals for alternative institutional arrangements have been advanced by civil society organizations, by think-tanks and by governments. These range from cutting or dramatically changing the roles of the International Financial Institutions to withdrawing from them and building up new ones such as the Banco del Sur (Bank of the South). Are such alternatives feasible?

Several Southern governments have recently pre-paid, withdrawn from or turned down lending from the institutions. They can do this partly because alternative sources of finance are now available to them. But other governments, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, do not have this option open to them at the moment. *What governs a country’s lending policy?"

Panel:

• Erik S. Reinert*, Norwegian entrepreneur and heterodox economist
• A representative from EURODAD (TBA), European Network on Debt and Development
• Sony Kapoor, Tax Justice Network (chair)

Organized by Ulandsseminaret in cooperation with SLUG Blindern.