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Expert Recommends Cautiousness with IMF
An economist and expert in politics from
the University of South Florida recommended being cautious
with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), at the very same
moment the government is getting ready to sign an agreement
with the world organization.
Dr. Mark Amen, director of the University
of South Florida's Globalization Research Center indicated
that both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank
foster privatization and neoliberal policies.
´´These organizations´´,
emphasized Dr. Amen, ´´continue prescribing and
assisting member States and national economies."
The IMF and the World Bank support and advocate
for the popularization of neoliberal market-oriented- policies,
both in the United Status and Great Britain, added the speaker.
Amen was invited by the Global Foundation
for Democracy and Development (FUNGLODE), an organization
founded by the former president of the Dominican Republic,
Leonel Fernández.
The globalization expert took part in the
panel discussion on "Vision of Globalization: Mirage
or Expectation for the Dominican Republic," hosted at
the FUNGLODE's headquarters on Thursday evening, July 24.
Other panelists include Dr. José
Manuel Armenteros, who has filled important posts in the American
Chamber of Commerce, and was also representative-founder of
the Latin American Integration Net.
Frederic Emán-Zadé, FUNGLODE's
Economic Development Director, made a brief historical recount
on globalization when introducing Dr. Amen. Fernández
said a few words at the closing of the event.
Dr. Amen indicated that such international
organizations "view a Dominican Republic vulnerable to
the external shocks and macroeconomic conditions, evidenced
by an interruption in the rapid growth of the Gross National
Product in the '90s, when the Dominican economy began to decline.
IMF Demands
 Amen,
who holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Graduate Institute
of International Studies, in Geneva, Switzerland, said that
pursuant to a document from the International Monetary Fund,
such international organization demands that the Dominican
government adopt the following measures:
- Strengthen its external competitiveness and build a wider
cushion of foreign reserve exchange.
- Strengthen the banking system by increasing the supervision
through the adoption of international standards.
- Modernize the legal and regulatory framework.
- Adopt more transparency in the public sector in order
to bolster consumers and investors' confidence.
- Reform the efficiency in the expense in the administration
of finances and purchases: more restrictions in the tax
policy, reduction in the entries for salaries, wages, unnecessary
current expenses, and capital expense. Saving in such a
way will allow for social expense and investments in infrastructure.
- Free the little public resources to invest in human capital
with greater association with the private sector, as it
occurs now with the electric power, and that the same should
be done with the handling of waste and water.
- Recommend that the government become more efficient in
the fight against rural and semi-urban poverty which, though
it is in decline (from 37.5% in 1986 to 28.6% in 1998),
continues to be a major problem (46% of poor people in rural
areas) , and
- Improve environmental protection by fighting deforestation,
waste handling, and impact on tourism.
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At the end of his discussion on this aspect,
Dr. Amen said that the recommendations from the IMF and WB
"are consistent with a neoliberal approach, wherein the
role of the government is to make conditions attractive for
the global economy.
Alternative context
However, Dr. Amen did not stop there, but
went on a step ahead, and suggested some measures that could
be implemented.
In that regard, he added, there is an alternative
context wherefrom the Dominican Republic could consider which
policies to adopt in response to the global economy-which
he distinguished from the international economy-and the movement
of people affecting the nation.
According to Dr. Amen, such context begins
with the view that the Dominican Republic is dependent on,
both structurally and asymmetrically, the institutional influence
and the knowledge of the IMF and World Bank and the US economy.
The professor, who teaches political economy,
globalization and international relations theories, said that
such an unbalanced dependency seems to be the case in very
critical areas.
Among them he cited the dependency on tourism
which, though has brought about some positive gains, has not
led to expansive effects in other sectors of the economy.
Moreover, the external shocks product of
the September 11 attacks and the decline of the US economy
have triggered a reduction in tourism revenue.
He added that the change in the economy
, from f agricultural commodities such as sugar and cocoa
to manufacturing in free zones, caused a change leading to
increased exports and rapid growth of such zones.
He recalled the two major economic developments
that occurred after 1985, one of them being the Caribbean
Initiative with free access to the US market for products
manufactured in the region.
Further, back then the IMF supported the
devaluation of the peso in 1985, ending with the parity with
the US dollar, which exceeded the value of the national currency,
resulting in a reduction of the cost of US businesses to produce
in the Dominican Republic.
How to Break Loose from Dependency
Dr. Amen disclosed some measures intended
to alter the asymmetric dependency that may be beneficial
to the Dominican Republic.
"A way to revert such relation,"
said the expert, " could lie on a greater social and
economic development," underlined Amen.
Also, the nation must undertake major efforts
to face the economic crisis affecting it. He suggested the
undertaking of major efforts to revert its dependency. To
Dr. Amen, human resources is the starting point to break loose
from the dependency that the Dominican people and other communities
in the same developmental stage are living under.
SANTO DOMINGO, JULY 25, 2003.
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