IMF provides a pittance to poor countries

After the conference of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Tanzania, Le Monde criticises the paltry aid allocated by the organisation to the poorest countries of the world: "Just 25 billion dollars. ... That is half of the money embezzled by [the New York stockbroker Bernhard] Madoff. ... This is the amount of emergency aid that the IMF estimates necessary to rescue the 22 - for the most part African - low income countries hit ... by the financial tsunami. ... This is a drop in the bucket, a pittance. Globalisation ... is worsening the injustice. The rich countries are paying a high price for the effects of the credit crunch. People in Africa are light years from subprime loans. But the collapse in demand for raw materials has resulted in an alarming fall in growth. The poor are becoming even poorer with the ... 'big recession' and the concurrent social and political unrest will only exacerbate the helplessness of Sub-Saharan Africa."

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