IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 132
Expressing the sense of the Congress in opposition to the use of proceeds
from gold sales by the International Monetary Fund for structural adjust-
ment programs in developing countries.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 14, 1999
Mr. BROWN of Ohio submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress in opposition to the
use of proceeds from gold sales by the International
Monetary Fund for structural adjustment programs in
developing countries.
Whereas, for developing countries with macroeconomic prob-
lems such as rampant inflation, poor trade performance,
and high indebtedness, the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) offers Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility
(ESAF) loans, which are low interest, medium term (5–
10 year) loans;
Whereas, according to the IMF, these concessional loans are
intended to offer a path to economic recovery and the re-
duction of debt service levels to sustainable levels through
the imposition of structural adjustment policies;
•HCON 132 IH
Whereas the majority of external debt owed by nations of
sub-Saharan Africa was built up during the 1970’s—a
time of reckless lending by banks and international agen-
cies—and was agreed to by undemocratic governments;
Whereas the IMF and the International Bank for Recon-
struction and Development (World Bank) have imposed
structural adjustment programs on most sub-Saharan
countries since the 1980’s;
Whereas ESAF loan conditions have led to mandating mas-
sive layoffs, reduced availability of credit, increased taxes
and interest rates, and reduced government spending on
education and other basic needs;
Whereas economic growth has been slower for ESAF than
non-ESAF developing countries and per capita income
has declined for African countries under ESAF;
Whereas, despite abiding by ESAF requirements, sub-Saha-
ran Africa, so rich in human and natural resources, re-
mains the poorest region of the world economically;
Whereas per capita education spending for sub-Saharan Afri-
can countries under ESAF has declined, including a de-
cline of 35 percent in the Ivory Coast;
Whereas the external debt burden of sub-Saharan Africa has
increased by nearly 400 percent since 1980, when the
IMF and World Bank began imposing their structural
adjustment programs, and external debt has doubled for
nations under ESAF from 1985–1995;
Whereas the greatest barrier to economic recovery is the re-
gion’s overwhelming debt burden, which amounts to over
$230,000,000,000;
•HCON 132 IH
Whereas it is the poorest inhabitants of sub-Saharan Africa
that are forced to shoulder the burden of external debt
by diverting scarce resources to debt servicing;
Whereas half the population of sub-Saharan Africa lives in
poverty;
Whereas average real wages decreased in 26 out of 28 Afri-
can countries surveyed during the 1980’s;
Whereas sub-Saharan Africa spends twice as much on debt
interest payments as on health care;
Whereas cuts in health spending have led to an increase in
infant mortality, and sub-Saharan African children are
expected to account for about 40 percent of infant deaths
worldwide by the year 2000;
Whereas sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 10 percent of the
world’s population but accounts for nearly 2⁄3 of the
known cases of the HIV infection;
Whereas 1,000,000 inhabitants of sub-Saharan Africa will die
from malaria this year;
Whereas millions of small farmers, especially women, have
been devastated by IMF-induced cuts in credit and agri-
cultural services, much of the land once devoted to food
crops is now devoted to cash crops, and nearly 40 percent
of the population suffers from some degree of malnutri-
tion;
Whereas President Clinton and Vice President Gore have an-
nounced that the Administration is committed to greater
efforts for debt relief for the world’s most impoverished
countries;
•HCON 132 IH
Whereas despite ESAF’s documented failure on economic and
social grounds, the IMF is proposing to make ESAF self-
financed through sales of its gold reserves; and
Whereas financing ESAF through gold sales will not only
allow the IMF to continue to implement harsh policies,
but it will create a permanently funded ESAF: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—
(1) according to the IMF’s own reviews, since
1980, the external debt of ESAF countries nearly
doubled and economic growth was slower than for
non-ESAF developing countries;
(2) poor countries whose people are struggling
daily to meet their basic needs should no longer have
to go through years of harsh IMF-imposed policies;
(3) it should be United States policy to oppose
gold sales to fund the IMF’s ESAF program; and
(4) any proceeds from the sale or other conver-
sion of IMF gold stocks should go directly to cancel
debts owed to the IMF and not to programs con-
trolled by the IMF or the World Bank.
Æ