This characterization misses the bigger picture. Governments know what they are getting when they ask for these loans, and they want it! They are in financial trouble and need to cut spending on education, health, gas and bread subsidies, etc., but politically this is impossible. Their solution: Blame the big bad bank. The government gets what it wants and the bank agrees to play the bad guy.
There is likely corruption throughout these governments too. They're getting loans at the expense of their citizens, often hurting the poorest the most. I'm not saying it's all the WB/IMF's fault, but helpful loans shouldn't carry conditions like these:
- Cutting expenditures, also known as austerity.
- Focusing economic output on direct export and resource extraction,
- Devaluation of currencies,
- Trade liberalisation, or lifting import and export restrictions,
- Increasing the stability of investment (by supplementing foreign direct investment with the opening of domestic stock markets),
- Balancing budgets and not overspending,
- Removing price controls and state subsidies,
- Privatization, or divestiture of all or part of state-owned enterprises,
- Enhancing the rights of foreign investors vis-a-vis national laws,
