Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein)

I will be brief because as previous speakers mentioned, this is a technical Bill to which we are not opposed. Therefore, we will not vote against it. However, we do have concerns about the IMF and its domination by developed countries which account for 15% of its members but which hold 60% of the votes. This must change. Further reforms are needed, central to which is giving the developing world an equal say in the way the IMF will be run. There is an argument that those countries most affected by its policies should have a greater say in the way it operates and that there is a need to abandon the use of the stringent policy conditions attached to the loans it gives. There is a need for a lender of last resort on the international stage and the IMF could be an appropriate body to fill that role.

As mentioned, the IMF attaches stringent and strict conditions to loans. This means, as we know, that national governments are told what they are supposed to do in no uncertain terms. Like any organisation, the IMF should be entitled to expect that it will get back what it loans but countries which are broke and in desperate circumstances have their economic policies dictated to them. In many cases this is unhealthy and unsustainable. Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world, with 90% of the population living on less than $2 a day. The consequences of the IMF's most recent involvement are stark. Utility prices rose dramatically following privatisation, while cotton prices dropped heavily following trade liberalisation. Development aid from the World Bank to the value of $72 million was blocked, which had the effect of making the majority in the country even poorer. This is not a record one could stand over. The head of the IMF is on a salary of $440,000, plus allowances, each year, yet the IMF lectures countries about the need for austerity, financial discipline and fortitude. It is subscribing to cuts to the minimum wage and in health care and other public services while its officials live on huge salaries. I look forward to the day when we can have a more substantive debate on governance reform in a democratic forum, but for now we will support the Bill.