Washington, D.C., is the capital of the United States, Poland's most important ally, but it is also the seat of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, which have a strong impact on Poland's economy.
The World Bank Group is made up of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
The IBRD is commonly known as the World Bank, but of course World Bank employees just call it "the Bank." Poland rejoined the World Bank in 1986. The government of Poland is the only Polish entity which may borrow from this bank. The loans didn't start until after the 1990 "big bang" reforms were initiated. Poland has borrowed large amounts of money from the World Bank to strengthen the country's economy and restructure its various sectors. From World Bank perspective, Poland is in the Europe and Central Asia Region. For general information on the relationship between Poland and the World Bank, you can see the World Bank's official Poland: Country Overview. Since the bank carries out many of its sectoral and specialized programs with the entire region in mind, the only way to examine Poland's place in those projects online is to go to the Europe and Central Asia Region page on the bank's website and follow the links to the particular projects and organizational units. For example, we learn that in the Europe and Central Asia Region there is a Sector Unit for Private and Financial Sector Development. Once there, you can click on Country Profiles and then on "Poland" to see a statistical picture of Poland from the point of view of a person examining support for the growth of the private sector and the financial sector. Branching out from the Europe and Central Asia Region page, you can also find the World Bank Development Economics Research Group's Transition Newsletter, where, in the August 1998 issue, you will find Michal Rutkowski's article on pension system reforms.
Even though Poland owes money to the World Bank and is scheduled to borrow more, the country is also mentioned on the World Bank Group website as a donor giving money to the IDA, which makes loans at zero interest rate to the world's 80 poorest nations. Poland joined the IDA in 1988.
The IFC seems to specialize in projects that are smaller in comparison to loans disbursed by the IBRD and IMF. IFC typically gets involved with specific companies in Poland. In 1991-1996, IFC carried out a project known as Polish Business Advisory Service. According to information on its website, IFC also "agreed to invest $15 million in Amerbank for onlending to [small- and medium-size enterprises] and the possible introduction of electronic banking. In addition, to develop a regional model to encourage the creation of other regional funds, IFC agreed to invest $5 million in the equity of the Central Poland Fund. The fund will specialize in financing existing small and medium companies as well as those owned by Central Poland's provinces, or voivoids, as they undergo privatization." For more information, see the Europe section IFC 1997 Annual Report. (If this page is not updated before the next IFC annual report is published on the Web, you will need to go to the IFC home page to start your search.)
MIGA was established to foster direct investment in developing countries. The agency provides insurance against non-commercial risk for international ventures. Poland is a member of MIGA. The agency has four guarantee officers and a regional director for Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent Countries (NIS).
The IMF helps countries that experience difficulties with international payments. The IMF will funnel more money into a crumbling nuclear power than into other nations' treasuries, but it is fair to say that Poland, in its moments of weakness, has also leaned on the IMF's supportive shoulders. In the 1990's, the IMF helped Poland stabilize its currency when the country took a quick turn toward a free-market economy. Besides responding to major crises, the fund systematically collects, analyses and publishes national financial statistics from around the world. The IMF has no formal authority over any country in the world, but it stipulates fiscal policy criteria that countries must meet to be eligible for assistance. Undoubtedly, the Polish government has been taking IMF's criteria into consideration while making its policy decisions.
In sum, the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund play important roles in continued development of a free-market economy in Poland.
In a different dimension, in Washington, D.C., the World Bank Group and the IMF have become important clients and employers for Poles and Polish Americans, contributing to growth of a small but relatively well-to-do Polish community in the Washington metropolitan area. The World Bank also maintains offices in Warsaw. Hopefully, as the years go by, we will see more and more Poles becoming World Bank Group and IMF employees and consultants.
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