THE International Monetary Fund is expected in the country beginning of the next month for routine Article IV consultations. These are routine meetings, usually annual ones, which the institution holds with its 186-strong member governments.
The organisation says through these consultations it attempts to assess each country's economic health and through its advisory services help forestall future financial problems. It is this aspect of advisory services that our government loathes. And indeed it is not alone. Several other governments worldwide, particularly those whose economies have at one stage or another been in distress, share the same sentiments. But if we pick a keyword in the purpose of the Article IV Consultations, that of assessing the "health", we may see where the acrimony comes in.
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