'Conditionally Yours': IMF Austerity on the Rise

Harsh austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund have risen sharply over the last few years, causing mass struggle for poor countries, a report published Wednesday shows.

According to the reportpublished by the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad)—a debt and poverty watchdog network of 48 European NGOs—this increase in IMF austerity is placing a heavy debt burden on poor countries with little to no payback, despite promises by the financial behemoth to curb its politically charged lending schemes.

IMF loans for cash-strapped countries always come with a catch: austerity conditions that “are often highly controversial,” Eurodad writes Wednesday. Examples given in the report, Conditionally Yours: An analysis of the policy conditions attached to IMF loans, include restructuring of tax codes, cutting spending, freezing or cutting public sector wages, shrinking public welfare programs— including pensions, reducing minimum wage levels, and privatizing public resources.

Such policies fail to stabilize damaged economies, the group warns.

Following past pressure from groups such as Eurodad, the IMF recently said it would try to “streamline” its required austerity conditions. However, just the opposite has happened.