The debate about International Monetary Fund (IMF) reform has been shaped largely by conversations within and among OECD countries and orthodox or mainstream economists. The IMF Reform project proposes to remedy this imbalance to the debate.

Over 2007/2008, CIGI, New Rules of Global Finance, and Oxford University's Global Economic Governance Programme sponsored a series of regional conferences that have enabled developing countries to articulate their needs and priorities for future services from the IMF.

The project brought together former and current finance ministers, central bank governors, academics, and stakeholders from each of the regions to discuss in small and intimate settings the kinds of monetary cooperation that would benefit their region most and what role the IMF would or would not play in achieving these ends.

PARTNERS

• New Rule for Global Finance
• University of Oxford's Global Economic Governance Programme

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

A series of regional conferences, in Asia, Central Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, enabled developing countries to articulate their needs for future services of the IMG. The IMG was evaluated in the following areas: technical assistance, conditionality, and governance reforms.

The sixth meeting was held at CIGI in July 2008, at which Dr. Bessma Momani, Dr. Jo Marie Griesgraber and Professor Ngaire Woods presented their findings from the five previous meetings.

PUBLICATIONS

• Bringing Balance to the IMF Debate
  Stefano Pagliari, Jason Thistlethewaite and Domencio Lombardi
  (Conference Report, August 23, 2008)
• IMF and Monetary Reforms I
  Bessma Momani, Stefano Pagliari, Faird Boussaid and Laura Innis
  (Middle Eastern Perspectives, July 21, 2008)
• IMF and Monetary Reforms II
  Bessma Momani and Stefano Pagliari
  (Latin American and Caribbean Perspectives, July 23, 2008)
• IMF and Monetary Reforms III
  Farid Boussaid and Jo Marie Griesgraber
  (Central Asian Perspectives, July 30, 2008)