International Momentary Fund /World Bank: A Progressive or Retrogressive Economic Vehicle for the Third World Countries?

Abstract

It was Ted Turner, the founder of the Cable News Network (CNN), who once stated that the world is a global village. The reality about this statement is found in the activities of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank whose operations know no boundaries. This paper, therefore, is aimed at investigating the modus operandi of IMF/World Bank and how it has impacted the developing nations. The paper adopts the underdevelopment theory, an off-short of the Marist school of thought as a tool for analysis. The findings reveal that the presence of IMF/World Bankhas been an instrument of exploitation and a vehicle for neo-imperialism and retrogression as the conditionality attached to credit facilities to Less Developed Countries (LDC)by these institutions have left them very impoverished with most of them servicing unending debts. Finally, it recommends among others, that developing nations should assemble resources together in a special financial institution establish by them for the purpose of addressing the economic and developmental challenges confronting them.