The IMF's Return to Latin America: Build forward Better?

Agata Breczko and Sandra Kanety Zavaleta Hernández
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Agata Breczko: Faculty of Political and Social Sciences (FCPyS) and National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
Sandra Kanety Zavaleta Hernández: Center of International Relations (CRI), Faculty of Political and Social Sciences (FCPyS) and National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)

Economia Internazionale / International Economics, 2024, vol. 77, issue 1, 37-62

Abstract: The International Monetary Fund (IMF), after over a decade of estrangement from several Latin American countries due to its socially costly interventions in the 1980s and 1990s, is now making a return under several lending modalities. This renewed engagement is occurring after the IMF's own internal transformation and rebranding. The critical question is whether the prescribed policies upon the IMF’s return will deviate from historical patterns. To address this, we undertake a comprehensive analysis, juxtaposing the Fund's specific conditions (praxis) with its broader policy recommendations (rhetoric) in recent interventions, and employing text mining analysis and a customized dictionary tailored to IMF technocratic discourse. Findings reveal a significant evolution in policy advice, introducing socially friendly approaches while retaining orthodox measures. This study contributes to the broader discussion on IMF continuity, highlighting nuanced shifts and potential inconsistencies between IMF discourse and practices.

Keywords: IMF; Conditionality; Discourse; Text-Mining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F02 F34 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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