Arab activists criticise conditions attached to western aid

[xchrom]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2011/jun/27/arab-activists-criticise-western-aid?intcmp=122

Arab activists warned on Monday that conditions attached to western aid threatened to undercut the goals of economic and social justice at the heart of the Arab spring, following Egypt's decision to spurn a loan offer from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Arab NGO network for Development said liberalisation of trade, investment and deregulation advocated by the US and the EU as part of their aid packages had contributed to the unrest in the first place.

"Such conditionalities should not be reinforced through various forms of partnerships and aid packages promoted in the name of democracy support," said a joint statement from 65 civil society groups. "The path to development of each country should be decided by its own people, via constitutional processes and national dialogue."

The warning followed Egypt's decision not to borrow from the IMF. The Egyptian finance minister, Samir Radwan, said on Saturday that Egypt would not borrow from the institution after revising its budget and cutting the deficit target from 11% to 8.6% of gross domestic product. The IMF said Egypt had scrapped plans for a $3bn loan agreed last month, a move that now calls into question the World Bank's own loan. Radwan said Qatar had provided Egypt with $500m for budgetary support in the past week, and Saudi Arabia had offered a similar amount.

[msongs]

1. nice to see them be willing to give up the welfare and pay for their own reforms. yay! nt

[awoke_in_2003]

2. The IMF is worse than the mafia...

at least if you borrowed money from the mafia you knew what the vig was