CHRONOLOGY/2751997 Uganda. The first country to be targeted by the HIPC
initiative, Uganda's debt reduction is postponed to April
1998.
1997 East and Southeast Asia. On several occasions, the World
Bank and IMF declare in official documents that there is no
threat of a serious crisis in Southeast Asia. This does not
prevent a crisis from erupting in the summer. The IMF
imposes severe austerity packages involving the elimination
of millions of jobs and of subsidies to basic goods. In October,
the IMF announces there is no threat of the crisis spreading
to South Korea. In November, South Korea is hit hard by the
unfolding crisis. IMF president, Michel Camdessus, declares
the crisis to be a 'blessing in disguise' (Liberation, 1 December
1997).
1998 Rwanda. Rwanda is obliged to repay IMF and World Bank
loans made to the former Habyarimana regime (19 73-94) to
buy arms used in the 1994 genocide.
1998 Zimbabwe. Food riots erupt in January against the increase
in the price of basic staples.
1998 Mozambique. In January, the Paris Club announces an 80
per cent reduction in debt from 1999 or the year 2000
onwards - in line with IMF and World Bank promises to
make a positive gesture in the country's direction. If the
reductions are indeed granted, the ratio of total debt to export
revenues will, at 200 per cent, remain unbearable. This is no
solution for one of the planet's poorest countries.
1998 East and Southeast Asia. The 'Asian miracle' is over. Yet
it has been the IMF and World Bank model for 20 years. The
social balance sheet is catastrophic. The IMF and local
governments impose policies implying nothing less than a
sell-off of the countries' national wealth. Who will the next
victims be?
1998 Russian Federation. In August-September the country is
rocked by a ma] or stock market and financial crisis, plunging
it into political chaos.
1998 Eastern Europe. In September, the Russian crisis spreads
into other countries of the former Eastern Bloc (especially
Poland and Bulgaria).