Views & Commentaries

A Letter to the Editor by Thomas Dawson, Director
External Relations Department
International Monetary Fund
Expansión
March 8, 2006

To the Editor:

Javier Blas displays a surprising lack of perspective on the process of IMF reform ("Una década de críticas", Feb. 21). The speech by the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, was an important contribution to a constructive debate among the IMF membership on the future course of the Fund. The speech was supportive of and consistent with IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato's own reform initiative, which he launched last year.

Mr. Blas is mistaken in suggesting that the Managing Director's initiative is in some fashion lagging. Work on Mr. de Rato's Medium Term Strategy for the IMF is already well advanced and will be high on the agenda of the Fund's Spring Meeting in April. The Managing Director is looking forward to an active discussion at that time.

Many countries and individuals have their own—and, at times, sharply differing—outlines for IMF reform. The Managing Director intended to stimulate just this kind of debate when he took the initiative to place the topic before the international community. Now the task is to achieve the broadest possible consensus among the 184 members of the IMF on this complex issue. Mr. Blas would serve Expansion's readers better if he were to avoid oversimplifying and dramatizing the matter.