Is Lending the Answer?

World Bank, IMF: Crisis becoming 'human calamity' Agence France Presse — The IMF and World Bank have warned on Sunday the global economic crisis is turning into a "human calamity" and called on members to speed up pledged aid and give even more to help the most vulnerable. At the end of spring meetings in Washington Sunday, the two Bretton Woods institutions told their 185 member countries that the worst global slump in generations had already driven more than 50 million people into extreme poverty. click to read complete article

IMF says national deficits to remain sky-high Financial Times — Budget deficits across the industrialised world will remain sky-high next year in spite of reduced spending on fiscal stimulus packages, the International Monetary Fund warned on Sunday. It said the Group of 20 leading economies taken together would run a budget deficit of 6.5 per cent next year compared with 6.6 per cent in 2009. click to read complete article

World Bank to Boost Lending in Response to Economic Crisis Voice of America News — The major high income and developing countries that set policy for the 185 member-nation World Bank agreed in Washington on Sunday that the bank should boost its lending to help poor countries adversely affected by the global economic slowdown. World Bank President Robert Zoellick said the bank will boost its lending by $100 billion during the next three years, noting that the economic crisis has forced as many as 90,000,000 more people into extreme poverty. click to read complete article