Little remains of Donald Trump’s punitive tariff list, but it has caused confusion.
Photo: IMAGO/SNA
»Uncertainty is the new normal. It is here to stay,” says International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director Kristalina Georgieva. She also made it clear that she considers the situation to be “extraordinary” at the annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank, which is taking place at the headquarters in Washington until next Saturday. Finance ministers and central bankers from the 191 member states as well as representatives from the financial sector and development cooperation have been meeting in Washington since Monday.
Georgieva left unsaid the fact that the much sought-after “uncertainty” has a name: Donald Trump, President of the most important payer, the USA, which, thanks to its voting rights, essentially has veto rights in the two UN financial institutions. The trade conflicts that have been initiated represent a danger, even if the new IMF economic forecast sees the global economy as surprisingly stable so far.
Nevertheless, the consequences of the corona pandemic and the energy crisis are still being felt strongly. The debt of large countries has increased, and almost 50 countries in the global south are, according to Erlassjahr.de, “very critically indebted”. The fund is intended to make it easier to finance poverty reduction and climate protection in poor countries, but such decisions are likely to have a difficult time in the IMF Board of Governors given the US government’s stance. This also applies to the demand to effectively tax billionaires because of the dangerous widening of the gap between rich and poor.
The energy strategy is being reviewed in the World Bank Group. While Indian boss Ajay Banga has previously been concerned with phasing out project financing for coal, oil and gas, the Trump administration is pushing to promote fossil energies and nuclear projects. What will be crucial is how other G7 states like Germany behave, says Anja Gebel from the NGO Germanwatch: “The federal government must take a clear line here: no public money for fossil energies, but investments in renewable energies and green industrialization.”
