Saturday, October 03, 2009

IMF and World Bank meet in Istanbul

This year's meetings of the IMF and World Bank are taking place in Turkey, a country that hasn't always had the most straightforward relationship with the international financial institutions. Last year the Turkish Prime Minister commented that "We will not cast our tomorrows into darkness by bowing to IMF demands at such a time of crisis".


So far the biggest headline of the meetings seems to be the moment when a Turkish student threw a shoe at IMF Managing Director Dominic Strauss-Kahn at a meeting on Thursday. Strauss-Kahn later commented that Turkish students were at least polite enough to wait until he'd finished speaking to throw their shoes.

Zoellick's main message so far has been the need to counter 'complacency' and that although economic recovery may be starting, it will be slow and uneven. Strauss-Kahn has been talking about the Fund's role in promoting stability as well as prosperity.

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