The International Monetary Fund and COVID-19. Old and new challenges of a post-World War II international institution

Abstract

The global pandemic caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 put the attention on the International Monetary Fund's ability to promote the cooperation between states in the fight against its dramatic economic and financial effects. The measures adopted by the IMF after the declaration of the health emergency of international concern related to the global outbreak of COVID-19 reveal the intensification of some of the traditional structural challenges of this Post-World War II intergovernmental organization. In this sense, the COVID-19 pandemic has strengthened the critics against the lack of democratic legitimacy of the IMF and has reinforced the competition that the Fund faces from other international financial institutions. The characteristics of the lending programs adopted by the Fund in response to this global crisis manifest states' persisting concerns and hostility towards the IMF's conditionality. The economic and financial crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak has also created some new specific challenges for the efficient functioning of the Fund. It has highlighted that the IMF's work could not be separated from the respect of the human right to health and the protection of the environment, as existential prerequisites of sustainable economic development, monetary and financial stability, and social wellbeing. © 2021 Centro Universitario de Brasilia. All rights reserved.