The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday, July 14, responded to criticism leveled against it by President William Ruto over its handling of international projects.
During a live-streamed press briefing, Julie Kozack, the Director of Strategic Communications at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), emphasized the importance of considering the organization's financial interventions offered to countries over the years when evaluating its operations.
Kozack urged critics to adopt a broader perspective in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the IMF's activities.
She noted that the Bretton Wood institution had come to the rescue of several countries during tough economic times through various interventions including concessional loans.
Kozack cited examples such as the IMF's aid to countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its assistance to nations grappling with the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
"I think, more broadly speaking, many countries and many regions of the world have navigated difficult transitions before, and the IMF has, typically, been part of that global response to these difficult transitions that countries have faced.
"Since March 2020, we have approved over Ksh42 trillion (USD 300 billion) in financing for 96 countries," she explained.
However, she noted that there were emerging trends in the global financial landscape adding that the institution was also readjusting to align their programmes to the changes.
Some of the reforms she indicated were being taken included; increasing the overall size of the IMF’s quarter resources which she observed will help low-income countries.
"The IMF is also exploring reforms to our lending toolkit, including adjustments to our precautionary instruments to better suit the needs of our membership.
"We are also looking at ways to better account for how climate change affects debt sustainability and to enhance our support for countries hit by climate shocks," the official added.
Ruto has in recent months intensified his calls for reforms in global institutions such as IMF and the World Bank.
In particular, the Head of State called for a robust system to give countries like Kenya a voice on a global level.
“We need to hammer out in this Paris agreement that we need a new financial mechanism to deal with climate change that is not controlled by a shareholder or is not subjected to the interest of any country,” Ruto stated during an event in Paris in June 2023.
IMF on Ongoing Demonstrations
Following Ruto's comments, the global financial institution noted it was monitoring developments in the country and would issue a comprehensive statement after the completion of their review.
"We are hoping very much for a peaceful resolution" she stated.
