The IMF and Civil Society
A letter from
Sierra Leone: CSOs
meet IMF mission
November 12, 2007
Alvin Hilaire, Resident Representative, Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Conakry, Guinea
The reopening in May of the IMF Resident Representative Office in Sierra Leone—after a decade of civil war and recovery—has facilitated the resumption of dialogue with local civil society organizations (CSOs). On November 12, representatives of nine civil society organizations (CSOs),met with a visiting Fund mission led by Norbert Toé. The meeting was requested by ActionAid, with representatives of Campaign for Good Governance, Centre for the Coordinating of Youths Activities, Christian Aid, Civil Society Movement Sierra Leone, Green Scenery, National Advocacy Coalition on the Extractives, and Sierra Leone Teachers Union.
Among the issues raised by the CSOs:
- IMF programs are ‘one size fits all’, imposing an inflation target of 5 percent which stifles growth. The Fund team pointed out that each IMF program is formulated on the basis of country circumstances. Inflation targets vary and often exceed 5 percent. In Sierra Leone’s case, the average inflation projection for 2007 was 9.3 percent and 8 percent for 2008 (compared with 12.2 percent in 2006).
- Discussions on Sierra Leone’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) lack transparency, and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP)—on which the PRGF is based—did not fully represent the views of CSOs. It was suggested that CSOs should be informed of mission visits prior to their arrival and that the Fund should encourage the government to engage them more frequently. The mission urged the representatives to continue to press the authorities for clarity on the PRGF discussions (Sierra Leone’s PRGF runs from May 2006 to May 2009), examine carefully the documentation on the program (most of which is in the public domain), and insert themselves into the consultations on the upcoming PRSP.
- IMF programs unduly constrain teachers’ salaries and social spending. Civil society representatives acknowledged the need to control the wage bill to avoid spending on fictitious workers. The mission added that sectoral resource allocation is the responsibility of governments, pointing out that in the Fund-supported program with Sierra Leone, it is advised that spending on poverty-related sectors should not fall below a certain level. Unfortunately, the government has traditionally been unable to achieve that level of spending.
- Africans are under-represented on the staff of the IMF, limiting an understanding of the continent’s problems. The mission stated that the Executive Board, management, and the membership of the IMF are working on measures to enhance voice and representation of emerging and developing countries, including African countries.
- Clarity on the IMF’s views of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is required. The process of extracting the country’s natural resources is inefficient and improperly regulated, culminating in massive environmental destruction. The mission pointed out that the development of an implementation framework for the EITI is a structural condition in the PRGF program. This is to be achieved by end-December 2007.
CSO representatives expressed appreciation for the open dialogue and looked forward to further discussions.