International News

WASHINGTON,(APP/AFP) – Ever since the IMF
participated in the first Greek bailout six years ago, the stinging suspicion has been that the Fund is under Europe’s thumb.
Now the International Monetary Fund is again under pressure to come to the aid of Athens, providing likely fodder for critics.
Europe forged an 86 billion euro ($96 billion) aid package for Greece last year and powerful EU members are insisting that the IMF chip in.
So far, the Fund, which did participate in the two prior Greek rescue
efforts, is resisting, calling on Greece to commit to reforms and on Brussels to reduce Greece’s debt load.
But for how much longer?
According to a withering internal audit report published Thursday, the IMF in 2010 did indeed cave to the Europeans by generously bailing out Greece in violation of the Fund’s own internal rules and despite doubts about Greece’s creditworthiness.
The controversial decision undermined the Fund’s credibility and outraged some developing countries, which decried what they saw as preferential treatment.
In some ways, the situation is different in 2016.
Fears of Greek collapse have ebbed even though a recession has dragged on. The euro zone, which now has its own emergency fund, does not need the IMF’s money so much as its expertise in evaluating reforms.