A Checklist of IMF Reforms

or detrimental impact on America and its citizens. As the chief representative of the U.S. in the IMF, the U.S. Executive Director should present the actions of the IMF to the relevant committees (Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate and Banking and Financial Services Committee in the House) in Congress on a biannual basis. This would perform a necessary and, heretofore, unmet function of Congressional oversight.4 Such testimony would supplement the transparency requirement listed previously and provide an excellent opportunity to pose questions on the actions of the IMF, clarify discrepancies or ill-defined information in materials provided by the IMF, and provide analysis on the effectiveness of legislation addressing the IMF. The U.S. Executive Director should also be required to provide comprehensive information on the annual and cumulative financial cost of U.S. membership in the IMF to the U.S. taxpayer. An amendment by Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) would go one step further and withhold U.S. funding until the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury certifies that the IMF Articles of Agreement have been changed to require that the Managing Director annually visit the Legislatures of the member countries and subject himself to legislative committee hearings.

REFORM PROPOSALS

Recommendations and proposals on how to reform the IMF policy are legion. Proposed amendments to additional IMF funding range from Representative Chris Smith's (R-NJ) amendment to ban foreign aid funding for abortion, commonly referred to as Mexico City language, to Representative Bernard Sander's (I-VT) amendment to strengthen existing U.S. laws in support of worker rights in other countries. The following list of proposed amendments does not attempt to provide a comprehensive guide to all IMF amendments. Rather, it provides brief descriptions of proposed reforms that would compliment and supplement the four fundamental reforms that should be the minimum conditions for continued U.S. participation in the IMF. These additional reforms include:

Eliminate of subsidized interest rate on loans. The IMF extends loans at conditional, or below market, rates ranging from the roughly 4.5 percent charged on Stand-by Arrangements, to nearly free as with the ESAF loans which charge annual interest of only one half of 1 percent (0.5 percent).5 These subsidized interest rates are far below what developing countries in general would be able to secure, much less developing countries in financial crisis with poor credit records. Requiring the IMF to charge market-determined interest rates on it loans would minimize market distortions, ensure that IMF loan

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