World Bank, IMF need to revert to their original mission

WORLD Bank president Jim Yong Kim and International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde both turned in what might be termed star "performances" at the annual meetings of their respective institutions in Peru recently. But they seemed at times to be reading from the scripts of other actors.

Dr Kim gave a moving account of his work (he is a medical doctor) in fighting a rare form of tuberculosis in the Peruvian jungle years ago, while Ms Lagarde seemed intent on championing social causes such as poverty alleviation, women's advancement and climate change alleviation. Moving, but (some might think) hardly relevant to an institution (the World Bank) whose role is precisely to serve as a bank and to mediate funds from international capital markets to developing countries - or to one (like the IMF) whose function is to promote macroeconomic stability.

Have the so-called "Bretton Woods twins" strayed so far from their original mission as to become confused and ineffective, and are they running the risk of treading on the toes of other multilateral institutions? Listening to Dr Kim and Ms Lagarde discoursing, it was tempting to think so.