By Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director
Brookings Institution, Washington, DC
", "authors": [ "Christine Lagarde" ], "publishDate": "2017-09-18", "sections": [ { "heading": "Introduction", "content": "- Speech delivered by Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, at the Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, September 18, 2017.\n- Event convened policy makers, business leaders, and civil society experts to acknowledge and measure corruption and its economic impact." }, { "heading": "What Do We Mean by Corruption?", "content": "- IMF definition: public corruption is the “abuse of public office for private gain.”\n- Key observations:\n - Corruption is complex, often involving multiple actors operating in the shadows.\n - Private actors can be direct participants (bribery) or facilitators (money laundering, tax evasion).\n - The “Panama Papers” highlight how facilitators enable corruption to spread across borders.\n- Implication:\n - Effective anti-corruption approaches must identify many different dimensions and transnational linkages." }, { "heading": "Why is the IMF Involved and Why Now?", "content": "- Rationale:\n - Growing consensus among IMF members that corruption is a macro-critical issue in many countries.\n - Systemic corruption undermines inclusive growth and poverty reduction, erodes business vitality, and limits economic potential.\n- Quantified cost:\n - The annual cost of bribery is estimated to be between 1.5 to 2 trillion dollars — roughly two percent of global GDP.[1]\n- Illustrative dynamics:\n - Public funds diverted to unnecessary projects can deplete social service coffers (education, health care) and perpetuate inequality.\n - Institutionalized corruption increases distrust in government and reduces foreign direct investment, creating negative feedback loops.\n- Public perception:\n - A survey of global youth found young people identify corruption, not jobs or lack of education, as the most pressing concern in their countries.[2]\n- Universality:\n - Corruption can impact every nation and take forms from embezzlement and nepotism to terrorist financing." }, { "heading": "How Can the IMF Help?", "content": "- IMF Executive Board stance:\n - Took stock of progress and committed to confronting corruption more directly.[3]\n - Agreed members would benefit from increased granular policy advice and candid, even-handed assessment of corruption’s economic impact.\n- Methodological needs:\n - Development of new methodologies to better quantify and analyze corruption.\n - Launch of two new anti-corruption research initiatives led by Brookings, the World Bank, the IFC, and partners (noted at the event).\n- Practical IMF actions and examples:\n - Transparency and accountability: encourage publication of data on major public investments.\n - Gabon example: after IMF consultation, government committed to publishing data on all major public investments in next year’s budget; by 2020 the budget law will outline financial risks associated with every public company, including those in the extractive sector.\n - Regulatory reform: streamline processes to reduce the number of gate-keepers for permits, fees, and contracts (not necessarily deregulation).\n - Legal and institutional strengthening: focus on enforcement institutions (police, public prosecutors, judiciary).\n - Ukraine example: IMF-assisted comprehensive review of national corruption led to reforms including a national anti-corruption bureau; investigators need increased authority and prosecutors must be empowered to bring charges in an anti-corruption court.\n- Implementation challenges and realism:\n - Cultural and institutional change takes time; policies can take years to become effective.\n - Some governments view corruption as political rather than economic and may be reluctant to engage.\n- Commitment:\n - IMF commits to speak about corruption with clarity and to offer tools to help members do more going forward." }, { "heading": "Conclusion", "content": "- A coordinated global effort to stop corruption can increase prosperity and improve citizens’ lives.\n- The speech closes with the metaphorical reference: “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful conversation!”\n\nBy Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director; Brookings Institution, Washington, DC; September 18, 2017.\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- Christine Lagarde\n- Gabon and the IMF\n- Panama and the IMF\n- Ukraine and the IMF\n- The IMF and Good Governance -- A Factsheet\n- Speeches\n- PRESS CENTER\n- Corruption: Costs and Mitigating Strategies\n- The Role of the Fund in Governance Issues (August 2017\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2017/09/18/sp091817-addressing-corruption-with-clarity" } ], "bullets": [ "[Markdown version](/en/news/articles/2017/09/18/sp091817-addressing-corruption-with-clarity/index.md)", "[Structured JSON version](/en/news/articles/2017/09/18/sp091817-addressing-corruption-with-clarity/index.json)", "[Bundle manifest](/en/news/articles/2017/09/18/sp091817-addressing-corruption-with-clarity/bundle-manifest.json)", "Authors: Christine Lagarde", "Published: September 18, 2017", "Speech delivered by Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, at the Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, September 18, 2017.", "Event convened policy makers, business leaders, and civil society experts to acknowledge and measure corruption and its economic impact.", "IMF definition: public corruption is the “abuse of public office for private gain.”", "Key observations:", "Implication:", "Rationale:", "Quantified cost:", "Illustrative dynamics:", "Public perception:", "Universality:", "IMF Executive Board stance:", "Methodological needs:", "Practical IMF actions and examples:", "Implementation challenges and realism:", "Commitment:", "A coordinated global effort to stop corruption can increase prosperity and improve citizens’ lives.", "The speech closes with the metaphorical reference: “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful conversation!”", "[Christine Lagarde](https://www.imf.org/en/About/senior-officials/Bios/christine-lagarde)", "[Gabon and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/GAB/index.htm)", "[Panama and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/PAN/index.htm)", "[Ukraine and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/UKR/index.htm)", "[The IMF and Good Governance -- A Factsheet](https://www.imf.org/en/about/factsheets/sheets/2023/the-imf-and-good-governance)", "[Speeches](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)", "[PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)", "[Corruption: Costs and Mitigating Strategies](http://www.imf.org/external/ns/cs.aspx?id=353)", "[The Role of the Fund in Governance Issues (August 2017](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2017/08/01/pp080217-the-role-of-the-fund-in-governance-issues-review-of-the-guidance-note)", "[https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)" ], "alternates": { "markdown": "/en/news/articles/2017/09/18/sp091817-addressing-corruption-with-clarity/index.md", "json": "/en/news/articles/2017/09/18/sp091817-addressing-corruption-with-clarity/index.json", "bundleManifest": "/en/news/articles/2017/09/18/sp091817-addressing-corruption-with-clarity/bundle-manifest.json" }, "generatedAtUtc": "2026-09-25T21:11:58.286Z" }