【正文】 , countries are usually required to launch certain reforms, which have often been dubbed the Washington Consensus. These reforms are generally required because countries with fixed exchange rate policies can engage in fiscal, monetary, and political practices which may lead to the crisis itself. For example, nations with severe budget deficits, rampant inflation, strict price controls, or significantly overvalued or undervalued currencies run the risk of facing balance of payment crises. Thus, the structural adjustment programs are at least ostensibly intended to ensure that the IMF is actually helping to prevent financial crises rather than merely funding financial recklessness. [edit] IMF/World Bank support of military dictatorships The role of the Bretton Woods institutions has been controversial since the late Cold War period, as the IMF policy makers supported military dictatorships friendly to American and European corporations. Critics also claim that the IMF is generally apathetic or hostile to their views of democracy, human rights, and labor rights. The controversy has helped spark the antiglobalization movement. Arguments in favor of the IMF say that economic stability is a precursor to democracy, however critics highlight various examples in which democratized countries fell after receiving IMF loans.[7] In the 60’s, the IMF and the World Bank supported the government of Brazil’s military dictator Castello Branco with tens of millions of dollars of loans and credit that were denied to previous democraticallyelected governments.[8] Countries that were or are under a Military dictatorship whilst being members of the IMF/World Bank (support from various sources in $ Billion):[9] Country indebted to IMF/World BankDictatorIn power fromIn power todebts at start of Dictatorship(1)Debts at end of Dictatorship(2)Country Debts in 1996Dictator debts generated $ billionDictator generated debt % of total debt ArgentinaMilitary dictatorship19761983% BoliviaMilitary dictatorship196219800% BrazilMilitary dictatorship19641984179100% ChileAugusto Pinochet1973198918% El SalvadorMilitary dictatorship19791994% EthiopiaMengistu Haile Mariam1977199110% HaitiJeanClaude Duvalier197119860% IndonesiaSuharto196719983129129126% KenyaMoi19792002% LiberiaDoe19791990% MalawiBanda196419942% NigeriaBuhari/Abacha19841998% PakistanZiaul Haq1977198817ParaguayStroessner19541989% PhilippinesMarcos19651986% SomaliaSiad Barre196919910% South Africaapartheid1992% SudanNimeiry/alMahdi1969present1717% SyriaAssad1970present% ThailandMilitary dictatorship195019830% Zaire/CongoMobutu19651997% Notes: Debt at takeover by dictatorship。s economic problems.[15] The current — as of early 2006 — trend towards moderate leftwing governments in the region and a growing concern with the development of a regional economic policy largely independent of big business pressures has been ascribed to this crisis. Another example of where IMF Structural Adjustment Programmes aggravated the problem was in Kenya. Before the IMF got involved in the country, the Kenyan central bank oversaw all currency movements in and out of the country. The IMF mandated that the Kenyan central bank had to allow easier currency movement. However, the adjustment resulted in very little foreign investment, but allowed Kamlesh Manusuklal Damji Pattni, with the help of corrupt government officials, to siphon off billions of Kenyan shillings in what came to be known as the Goldenberg scandal, leaving the country worse off than it was before the IMF reforms were implemented.[citation needed] In a recent interview, the Prime Minister of Romania stated that Since 2005, IMF is constantly making mistakes when it appreciates the country39。s member countries. The agenda includes changes in IMF governance to enhance the role of developing countries in the institution39。s managing director has been European and the president of the World Bank has been from the United States. However, this standard is increasingly being questioned and petition for these two posts may soon open up to include other qualified candidates from any part of the world. Executive Directors, who confirm the managing director, are voted in by Finance Ministers from countries they represent. The First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, the secondinmand, has traditionally been (and is today) an American. The IMF is for the most part controlled by the major Western Powers, with voting rights on the Executive board based on a quota derived from the relative size of a country in the global economy. Critics claim that the board rarely votes and passes issues contradicting the will of the US or Europeans, which bined represent the largest bloc of shareholders in the Fund. On the other hand, Executive Directors that represent emerging and developing countries have many times strongly defended the group of nations in their constituency. Alexandre Kafka, who represented several Latin American countries for 32 years as Executive Director (including 21 as the dean of the Board), is a prime example. Mohamed Finaish from Libya, the Executive Director representing the majority of the Arab World and Pakistan, was a tireless defender[citation needed] of the developing nations39。reFrance January 16, 1987 – February 14, 2000Michel CamdessusFrance May 1, 2000 – March 4, 2004Horst K?hlerGermany June 7, 2004 – October 31, 2007Rodrigo RatoSpain November 1, 2007 – presentDominique StraussKahnFrance [編輯]Media representation of the IMF Life and Debt a documentary film, deals with the IMF