The International Monetary Fund is raising its tone against corruption

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GMT 11:05 2018 Monday , April 23 : Last Updated

Encouraging Member States to address it in the private sector

The International Monetary Fund is raising its tone against corruption

Elaf journalists

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  Meeting of representatives of the International Monetary Fund "archival

 

 

Meeting of representatives of the International Monetary Fund "archival

 

The IMF decided to strengthen the fight against corruption through a more systematic assessment of the phenomenon in member countries by encouraging them to address it also in the private sector.

The fund, which acknowledged Sunday that it lacked "clarity" on the issue in the past, adopted a new regulatory framework on Sunday to allow the annual missions of its teams on the ground to conduct a regular assessment of the "nature and seriousness of corruption" as of July 1.

Corruption involves all countries in the world from the public sector to the private sector and at all levels of society, as evidenced by the recent condemnation of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for 12 years in prison for corruption and money laundering.

"We know that corruption harms the poor ... and undermines trust in institutions," said IMF Director-General Christine Lagarde, speaking at a conference on the phenomenon on Sunday.

In a report released two years ago, the IMF said corruption annually depletes 2 percent of global wealth and undermines the equitable sharing of economic growth. The amount of bribes paid in the world alone is between $ 1.5 billion and $ 2 billion, roughly the French GDP, according to the fund.

With the rich countries involved in the phenomenon similar to those developing, but the peoples of the poorest is the first victim, because they are more dependent on public services become more expensive due to corruption.

Paraguayan Finance Minister Lea Jiménez stressed that corruption was "a multi-level problem involving multiple elements." Despite Paraguay's attempt to tackle corruption, it remains ranked 135 out of 180 countries, according to Transparency International's 2017 report.

Mining and Reconstruction Sector
"We have to be transparent about the subtle corruption of concealment," said Jimenez. "We are not supposed to interfere in the policies of countries, but when it comes to macroeconomic problems ... or when we negotiate the launch of a financial aid program, we have full legitimacy to intervene," Lagarde said.

It also stressed the need to develop an aid program that could lead to "maximum pressure" in order to demand full information.

The IMF has no control over corruption, but it can exert some pressure through its financial programs. He imposed conditions for the payment of additional funds to Ukraine, including the implementation of reforms, and also make real progress in addressing the rampant corruption in the country.

"Corruption thrives in the dark," Lagarde said, adding that the fund's teams got a green light from the management committee "to play a more intrusive role." What is new is that the fund will address private sectors, including multinational corporations involved in corruption or money laundering.

To achieve this, the Fund encourages Member States to "voluntarily accept the assessment of their judicial and institutional bodies within the framework of the Fund's annual monitoring missions".

The IMF will also consider whether these countries "criminalize and try to pay bribes to foreign employees or if they have favorable mechanisms to eliminate money laundering and hide dirty money."

On this point, Lagarde stressed that the IMF could demand a detailed study of corporate contracts, noting that the mining, reconstruction and communications sectors were the hardest hit by corruption.

For his part, Benin's Minister of Development, Abdullah Bi-Chani, called for combating the impunity of those involved in corruption. In order to achieve this, "it must be ensured that all laws and legislation exist to punish the perpetrators, and that it is indeed possible to implement a policy against corruption."