Pakistan-origin UK peer calls for IMF reform

Britain’s Lord Aamer Sarfraz has urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to consult businesses, traders and civil society before imposing any conditionality on a country for its lending programme.

The Conservative peer also said in a statement that he would encourage the British government to use its influence for progress in IMF reforms, saying that the IMF’s brand of equity in the developing world was “fast depleting”.

The IMF’s conditionalities imposed on emerging countries, Lord Aamer Sarfraz said, were “out of touch with reality” and “risked hurting the poorest communities the most”. He warned the West it would lose ground as its adversaries would step in to fill the void if the IMF conditions became untenable.

In the case of Pakistan, the House of Lords member said he had not met any business leader, trade union or chamber of commerce, whom the IMF had consulted before applying its strict conditionality, despite the fact that the IMF had itself said it “would listen to the people whom it affects”.

There had been very positive signals from US Treasury Secretary Yellen on accelerating IMF reforms, he said. He added the US maintained the largest influence on the IMF, and the British government must work with its allies to ensure the fund was fit for the purpose in the future.