By Tim Saunders on
Sir Bob Geldof will today meet with Dominic Strauss-Khan, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on behalf of the ONE Campaign to deliver the organization’s message that the IMF must make gold sale funds available to developing countries without harmful conditions and without creating new debts.
According to ONE: "The IMF is about to sell a small fraction of its gold reserves to raise $6 billion, but their plan for what to do with that windfall is completely backwards.
“Instead of using that money to fund direct grants focused on poverty-fighting results and accountability, it looks as though the majority will be spent on IMF operating expenses and staff salaries, with a small portion being disbursed as loans to developing nations. That’s bad news for impoverished countries, who will be forced to choose between getting the help they need now and facing crippling debts after the financial crisis is over.
“The more than two billion people who live on less than $2 a day did nothing to cause this financial crisis, yet they’ll still suffer from its consequences. This gold sale is our chance to make a difference for them and for the 53 million additional people who will slip into poverty this year if nothing is done.”
The One Campaign has organized a petition to make the voices of their supporters heard by the IMF, a private organization that oversees the global financial system by following the macroeconomic policies of its member countries.
To put your name to the petition and find out more about the issue, visit the ONE Campaign’s website.
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