June 16, 2011
Mexican central banker Agustín Carstens, campaigning here for the top job at the International Monetary Fund, said to ease the cost of a rescue package for Greece, the World Bank should get involved.
"I don't know why the World Bank isn't participating in Greece right now," Mr. Carstens said in an interview after meeting with top Chinese economic officials in Beijing. "The World bank can provide support for sectoral reforms. That could mitigate some of the adjustment costs of the programs."
Mr. Carsten's comments come as voters in euro-zone countries are balking at spending more on a Greek bailout—and protesters in Greece are resisting further cutbacks. World Bank funding and technical expertise, Mr. Carstens argued, could help ease the political and financial problems in Europe.
Although the World Bank provided financing to Eastern European countries during the global financial crisis, it hasn't been involved in rescue packages for euro-zone nations. Germany, France and other nations resisted for months asking the IMF for help with Greece, in part because they worried about the loss of status that could come from accepting IMF loans, which are usually made to developing nations. A loan from the World Bank, which targets the world's poorest nations, could be even harder to swallow politically.
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