IMF & World Bank meet in Trump’s shadow

The Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF take place next week under the cloud not just of US trade protectionism but also the Trump administration’s seeming hostility towards multilateral institutions – and the threat of US withdrawal. An end to (or reduced) US participation in the Bretton Woods institutions would be of enormous symbolic importance. And while it might not curtail these institutions’ activities to the extent that some fear, it could still make it harder for EMs to access multilateral financing. And the low-income EMs that are most dependent on such financing are also among those likely to be hit hardest by other policies of the Trump administration.