IMF

The IMF will issue a $450 million loan to Pakistan which risks plunging Pakistan into debt that it can ill-afford. Oxfam is calling for the cancellation of all multilateral and bilateral loans to Pakistan, and for debt relief to be given on emergency assistance from the IMF.

Oxfam spokesperson Pamela Gomez said: "Governance reform at the International Monetary Fund is long overdue.

Poor countries are being forced to cut back on their economic crisis-response spending too soon. Education and social protection budgets are particularly badly affected. Oxfam is calling on the IMF to take steps to reverse this trend.

Contrary to the positive picture painted by the International Monetary Fund in its 2010 World Economic Outlook, poor countries are being forced to cut back on their economic crisis-response spending too soon.

The fact that the IMF is proposing that adaptation efforts are funded by grants rather than loans is positive. But this will only work if developed countries ensure the money is there to resource this vital assistance to vulnerable countries.

G20 finance ministers meeting in London this weekend should provide a $280 billion bailout for millions of poor people struggling to survive the economic crisis. We provide three easy ways the G20 could deliver this up.

In 2005 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) introduced the Policy Support Instrument (PSI).

The $8.42 trillion promised by rich country governments to bailout banks would be enough to end global extreme poverty for 50 years and a massive step towards ending it forever.