华盛顿 —
联合国（UN）、国际货币基金组织（IMF）和世界银行（WB）是全球公认的在第二次世界大战结束后的废墟上建立的国际秩序的三大支柱。但是当其中一个支柱的最高领导人，对另外两个支柱提出强烈的批评并呼吁推动重大改革的时候，各界都会颇觉意外。
联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯（Antonio Guterres）表示，国际货币基金组织让富国而不是穷国受益。他还认为，国际货币基金组织和世界银行对新冠疫情的反应“完全失败”，从而让几十个国家深陷债务危机。
这并不是古特雷斯头一次对联合国的这两个兄弟组织表达不满，但却是他对国际货币基金组织和世界银行的问题所做的最为深入的分析。古特雷斯在最近发表的一篇文章中强调，这两个国际组织对新冠疫情的反应是这两个组织经历的“压力测试”。
美联社报道说，古特雷斯是在法国总统马克龙（Emmanuel Macron）于星期四和星期五在巴黎召集有关改革多边开发银行等问题的会议开幕前发表上述看法的。
美联社指出，国际货币基金组织和世界银行都拒绝对联合国秘书长的批评和建议直接置评，但是古特雷斯的说法呼应了一些体制外批评者的呼声。这些体制外批评者认为，国际货币基金组织和世界银行的领导层收到控制他们的大国的限制，而联合国其实也被人这么批评过，因此也有人呼吁联合国进行改革。
美国乔治·梅森大学公共政策教授莫里斯·库格勒（Maurice Kugler）向美联社表示，这些机构未能对最需要帮助的国家提供帮助“反映了一种自上而下的行事方法，那就是世界银行行长必须是由美国总统任命的一位美国公民担任，而国际货币基金组织则必须是一位由欧洲委员会任命的欧盟国家公民担任”。
国际危机组织驻联合国主任理查德·高恩（Richard Gowan）也向美联社表示，各界对美国及其欧洲盟友控制国际货币基金组织和世界银行的决策有很强的挫折感，这也让非洲国家的“投票权微不足道”。高恩指出，发展中国家也抱怨说银行的借贷规则也对他们不利。
“公平说来，银行也在努力更新其借贷程序以便化解这些关切，但是所采取的步骤远远不能满足南半球国家的需求，”高恩说。
古特雷斯表示，是要求国际货币基金组织和世界银行纠正它们历史错误以及“目前国际金融体制内嵌的偏见与不公”的时候了。国际金融体制筹建的时候，现在的许多发展中国家仍然处于殖民统治之下。
古特雷斯认为，国际货币基金组织和世界银行的作为根本跟不上全球的发展。他指出，世界银行拥有可用于各国政府发展计划的低息贷款和资助款220亿美元实缴资本。如果按照全球国内生产总值的占比来看，这还不到1960年贷款和资助款数额的五分之一。
而与此同时，许多发展中国家却深陷金融危机，高通胀、高利息以及债务减免的停滞更让它们雪上加霜。
“有些政府为了支付公共部门的员工，被迫在偿付贷款和违约之间做选择—有可能毁掉它们未来多年的信用评级，”古特雷斯说。他指出，“非洲现在偿付债务的成本要高于在卫生健康上支出的资金。”
古特雷斯表示，国际货币基金组织的借贷规则不公平地偏重富国。在新冠疫情期间，总人口约为7.72亿的七大工业国集团（G7）从国际货币基金组织获取了相当于2800亿美元的贷款，而总人口约为11亿的最不发达国家只被分配了80亿美元。
“这些都是按规则行事的，”古特雷斯说。“但是这在道义上是错误的。”
UN steps up criticism of IMF and World Bank, the other pillars of the post-World War II global order
From the ashes of World War II, three institutions were created as linchpins of a new global order
UNITED NATIONS -- From the ashes of World War II, three institutions were created as linchpins of a new global order. Now, in an unusual move, the top official in one — the secretary-general of the United Nations — is pressing for major changes in the other two.
Antonio Guterres says the International Monetary Fund has benefited rich countries instead of poor ones. And he describes the IMF and World Bank ’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a “glaring failure” that left dozens of countries deeply indebted.
Guterres’ criticism, in a recent paper, isn’t the first time he’s called for overhauling global financial institutions. But it is his most in-depth analysis of their problems, cast in light of their response to the pandemic, which he called a “stress test” for the organizations.
His comments were issued ahead of meetings called by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Thursday and Friday to address reforms of the multilateral development banks and other issues.
Neither the IMF nor the World Bank would comment directly on the secretary-general’s criticisms and proposals. But Guterres’ comments echo those of outside critics, who see the IMF and World Bank’s leadership limited by the powerful nations that control them — a situation similar to that of the United Nations, which has faced its own calls for reform.
Maurice Kugler, a professor of public policy at George Mason University, told The Associated Press that the institutions’ failure to help the neediest countries “reflects the persistence of a top-down approach in which the World Bank president is a U.S. national appointed by the U.S. president and the IMF managing director is a European Union national appointed by the European Commission.”
Richard Gowan, the International Crisis Group’s U.N. director, said there is a lot of frustration with the U.S. and its European allies dominating decision-making, leaving African countries with only “a sliver of voting rights.” Developing countries also complain that the bank’s lending rules are weighted against them, he said.
“In fairness, the bank has been trying to update its funding procedures to address these concerns, but it has not gone far enough to satisfy countries in the Global South,” Gowan said.
Guterres said it’s time for the boards of the IMF and the World Bank to right what he called the historic wrongs and “bias and injustice built into the current international financial architecture.”
That “architecture” was established when many developing countries were still under colonial rule.
The IMF and what is now known as the World Bank Group were created at a conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in July 1944 to be key institutions of a postwar international monetary system. The IMF was to monitor exchange rates and lend reserve currencies to countries with balance of payment deficits. The World Bank would provide financial assistance for postwar reconstruction and for building the economies of less developed countries.
Guterres said the institutions haven’t kept pace with global growth. He said the World Bank has $22 billion in paid capital, the money used for low-interest loans and grants for government development programs. As a percentage of global GDP, that’s less than one-fifth of the 1960 funding level.
At the same time, many developing countries are in a deep financial crisis, exacerbated by inflation, rising interest rates and a standstill in debt relief.
“Some governments are being forced to choose between making debt repayments or defaulting in order to pay public sector workers — possibly ruining their credit rating for years to come,” Guterres said, adding that “Africa now spends more on debt service costs than on health care.”
The IMF’s rules unfairly favor wealthy nations, he said. During the pandemic, the wealthy Group of Seven nations, with a population of 772 million, received the equivalent of $280 billion from the IMF while the least developed countries, with a population of 1.1 billion, were allocated just over $8 billion.
“This was done according to the rules,” Guterres said. This is “morally wrong.”
He called for major reforms that would strengthen the representation of developing countries on the boards of the IMF and World Bank, help countries restructure debts, change IMF quotas, and revamp the use of IMF funds. He also called for scaling up financing for economic development and tackling the impact of climate change.
IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack, asked about Guterres’ proposals at a June 8 news conference, said “I’m not in a position to comment on any of the specifics.”
She added that a review of IMF quotas is a priority and is expected to be completed by Dec. 15.
In a written response to a query from the AP, the IMF said it has mounted “an unprecedented” response to the largest-ever request from countries for help dealing with recent shocks.
After the pandemic hit, the IMF approved $306 billion in financing for 96 countries, including below-market rate loans to 57 low-income countries. It also increased interest-free lending fourfold to $24 billion and provided around $964 million in grants to 31 of its most vulnerable nations between April 2020 and 2022 so they could service their debts.
The World Bank Group said in January that its shareholders have initiated a process “to better address the scale of development.”
The bank’s development committee said in a March report that the bank “must evolve in response to the unprecedented confluence of global crises that has upended development progress and threatens people and the planet.”
Guterres’ push for reforming the IMF and World Bank comes as the United Nations also faces demands for an overhaul of its structure, which still reflects the post-World War II global order.
Gowan said many U.N. ambassadors think it might be “marginally easier” and more helpful to developing countries to overhaul the IMF and World Bank than to reform the U.N. Security Council, which has been debated for more than 40 years.
While Guterres and U.N. ambassadors talk about reforming the financial institutions, any changes are up to their boards. Gowan noted that when the Obama administration engineered a reform of IMF voting rights in 2010, “Congress took five years to ratify the deal — and Congress is even more divided and dysfunctional now.”
“But Western governments are aware that China is an increasingly dominant lender in many developing countries,” Gowan said, “so they have an interest in reforming the IMF and World Bank in ways that keep poorer states from relying on Beijing for loans.”
Beyond the Paris meeting, the debate over IMF and World Bank reforms will continue in September at a summit of leaders of the Group of 20 in New Delhi, and at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.
U.S. climate chief John Kerry said in an Associated Press interview Wednesday that he will be attending the Paris summit along with IMF and World Bank officials.
“Hopefully, new avenues of finance will be more defined than they have been,” he said. “I think it’s really important.”
