Latin America and the IMF: The Way Forward

April 12, 2007

The Latin-American Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (LASFRC), a group of former senior Latin American economic policy makers that meets periodically to offer policy recommendations for Latin American countries, met to focus on the changing role of the International Monetary Fund in the region. Participants included:

• Liliana Rojas-Suarez - President, LASFRC; Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development; Former Chief Economist, Latin America, Deutsche Bank
• Pedro Carvalho de Mello - Former Commissioner of Comissão de Valores Mobiliários of Brazil  
• Roberto Zahler - Former President, Central Bank of Chile
• Pablo Guidotti - Former Vice-Minister of Finance of Argentina
• Ernesto Talvi - Former Chief Economist, Central Bank of Uruguay
• Claudio Contador - Former Professor Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Context and Discussion Topics: IMF lending to Latin America has practically stopped due to large private capital inflows, macroeconomic stability and substantial accumulation of international reserves in many countries in the region. Moreover, some of the countries have paid-off their IMF debts in advance and are preparing to create alternative regional financial institutions. Is the IMF still relevant for the region? How will the relationship between the IMF and Latin American countries develop in the years ahead? Is the IMF Medium-Term Strategy for middle income countries sufficient or are more radical changes in IMF policies and programs required to meet the region's needs?