IMF loans could worsen crisis, says think tank

International Monetary Fund lending could worsen the crisis in many
countries, an independent think tank said on Tuesday in a report
which the IMF dismissed as "seriously misleading." The Centre for
Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) said that the IMF was promoting
spending cuts that could exacerbate the economic downturn in 31 out
of the 41 countries with current IMF loan agreements. "More than a
decade after the Asian economic crisis brought world attention to
major IMF policy mistakes, the IMF is still making similar mistakes
in many countries," Mark Weisbrot, an economist at CEPR, said in a
statement. "The IMF supports fiscal stimulus and expansionary
policies in the rich countries, but has a much different attitude
toward low-and-middle income countries," he said.