Reuters: US Treasury official pushes IMF quota increase to bolster lending resources

Article published: 7 September, 2023

IB Economics syllabus: Global Economics (international cooperation, economic stability, role of international organizations)

The U.S. Treasury is advocating for an increase in International Monetary Fund (IMF) quota resources. This move is aimed at maintaining the IMF’s current voting power allocations. Jay Shambaugh, the Treasury’s undersecretary for international affairs, emphasized the importance of reinvesting in the IMF and supporting an increase in quotas to strengthen the IMF’s role in the global financial safety net. The article also touches upon the U.S.’s stance on China’s economic policies and the potential implications of slow economic growth in China on the global economy.

IB Economics Internal Assessment (IA) Commentary

While this article is cetainly an interesting one focusing on development economics, it is rather difficult to write an IB Economics commentary on it as it’s hard to identify diagrams you could use for it. Hence, I wouldn’t recommend it for an IA, but it still provides a good insight (RWE) into how the IMF and Word Bank funding operates and the potential global effects of adjusting these quotas. It also highlights the U.S.’s perspective on China’s economic policies and its implications for the broader world economy, especially less developed countries and those like Argentina, “struggling [with a]$44 billion loan program”.

Source of image: REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

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