10. An internal evaluation of the I

10. An internal evaluation of the IMF program admitted that the IMF badly
misjudged the severity of the economic downturn. One reason given was that the IMF did
not expect the contagion that spread to other countries. However, the report also made the
cryptic statement that the misjudgement may be ‘perhaps, partly a concern to avoid damaging
confidence through gloomy forecasts.’ This statement is quite disturbing. The IMF had
been insisting to countries such as Thailand to be transparent with regards to the release of
key information. Yet, if what the statement suggests is true, then it implies that the IMF may
have been trying to mislead the market by deliberately distorting the projected economic
scenario. It is hoped that the misreading of the scenario stems from errors in assumptions and
analysis rather than a deliberate distortion.