Mike Crapo: “in the final days of the 106th Congress, I wanted to take this opportunity to speak about the issue of debt relief and…”

“in the final days of the 106th Congress, I wanted to take this opportunity to speak about the issue of debt relief and reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. A great deal of attention has been paid recently to a complicated issue that has faced Congress--the international lending practices of the World Bank group and the IMF. The complexity increases when you factor in calls for the United States to contribute to efforts to write off debt owed by the world's heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs). As vice chairman of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance, I have conducted a series of oversight hearings on the functioning of the IMF and World Bank. These hearings have only strengthened my belief that the evidence is clear--we should not grant debt relief without demanding that the international lending institutions such as the World Bank and IMF change their current practices. I supported Senate passage of the fiscal year 2001 foreign operations appropriations conference report with much reservation. The bill collectively provides about $435 million toward debt forgiveness for the HIPCs. Of this money, $210 million comes disguised as ``emergency'' spending. Regrettably, this all goes without any link between relief and reform. The legislation calls for a couple of reports to Congress and a few policy suggestions that the U.S.…”