Chile and the World Bank
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Chile joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the founding branch of the World Bank Group, on December 31, 1945.[1]
History of Membership
[edit]
Chile was part of the original 44 member countries at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference who signed its Articles of Agreement which pegged the world currencies to the dollar and established the IMF and the IBRD for short-term and long-term capital projects, respectively. Chile joined other branches of the World Bank Group relatively soon after their creation, they joined the International Development Association (IDA) on December 30, 1960, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on April 15, 1957, and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) the day it was established (April 12, 1988).[1] The exception is the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) which Chile joined on October 24, 1991, 25 years after its establishment.[1]
Chile
[edit]As of their June 2019 report, the World Bank considers Chile an emerging market and developing economy, defined by an economy that is 30% or more dependent on a single-export commodity.[2] Copper ore (at $16.6B) and refined copper (at $14.9B) represent 45% of all Chilean exports.[3]
Chile's economy has mainly followed the principles of economic liberalism. Almost immediately after a CIA-sponsored coup d'état that deposed Salvador Allende, a group of Chilean economists known as the Chicago Boys, as they were alumnus of the University of Chicago and Milton Friedman, published a study called El ladrillo. Many of the Chicago Boys held Cabinet positions during the following 17 years of dictatorship. Their economic study was impliemented into policy which has, in large part, been allowed to stay in place after constitutional reforms in 1990. The outcomes of these policies were praised by then Milton Friedman as the Miracle of Chile.[4]
Operation
[edit]The World Bank frequently espouses Chile as a success story within Latin America. "Chile has been one of Latin America’s fastest-growing economies in recent decades, enabling the country to significantly reduce poverty. Between 2000 and 2017, the population living in poverty (on US$ 4 per day) decreased from 31% to 6.4%."[5]
Development Projects of World Bank
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In December 2017, the World Bank Group established an office Santiago, Chile.[6]
Opposition
[edit]Chile had generally been considered a model for stability and order within a tumultuous region through the economic model of Neoliberalism, a set of economic policies that advocate for a return to free-market capitalism and laissez-faire governmental policies toward the market. [citation needed]
2019 Chilean protests, where a 4 cent increase in metro fare expanded into an expression of general discontent towards growing economic inequality, such as high costs of living, stagnant wages and meager pensions.[7]
In response to the mass discontent, Piñera announced a major cabinet reshuffling, firing the Interior Minister Andrés Chadwick and Finance Minister Felipe Larrain.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Member Countries". World Bank. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
- ^ Global economic prospects. June 2019, Heightened tensions, subdued investment. Washington, DC. 11 July 2019. ISBN 978-1-4648-1399-3. OCLC 1125184913.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "OEC - Chile (CHL) Exports, Imports, and Trade Partners". oec.world. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
- ^ Opazo, Tania (2016-01-12). "The Boys Who Got to Remake an Economy". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2025-02-26.
- ^ "Overview". World Bank. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
- ^ "World Bank Opens Office in Chile, Capping 72 Years of Partnership". World Bank. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
- ^ "'Chile Woke Up': Dictatorship's Legacy of Inequality Triggers Mass Protests". The New York Times. 2019-11-03. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
- ^ "Chile's Pinera fires interior, finance ministers amid unrest". Reuters. 2019-10-29. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
