CFGS Projects

Project Summary

Title: Enhancing Accountability in the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Date: End June 2005

Lead organization: Center for Global Studies (CFGS)

Directors: Barry Carin, CFGS, and Angela Wood - co-editors

Partners: International Development Research Center (IDRC)

Funders: Ford Foundation

Description: Recent years have seen calls for increased accountability in the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF has recently taken some modest steps in the areas of evaluation and audit, but the organization is generally perceived to be lacking in its adaptation to the new policy and governance frameworks demanded by increasing globalization. In relations across the Executive Board, IMF staff, the governments it serves, and civil society, the Fund has avoided its proper share of responsibility for failed policy prescriptions and has little incentive to adapt or improve its operations.

The project brings together leading experts from North America, Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia to further the debate on the various dimensions of accountability of the IMF to its various shareholders and stakeholders. Having fully explored how the notion of accountability can be pragmatically applied to the IMF, various alternative approaches have been tested and recommendations have been put forward for more effective and accountable future practice.

Project materials

Publication:

Barry Carin and Angela Wood (eds.), Accountability of the International Monetary Fund. Ashgate Publishing, 2005.

Purchase book online: Ashgate Publishing