IMF-World Bank Meetings Draw Protests  10/15 06:12

   Dozens of people marched in Bangkok on Thursday, seeking to draw the 
attention of world financial leaders to poverty, pollution and other grievances 
during a meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

   BANGKOK (AP) -- Dozens of people marched in Bangkok on Thursday, seeking to 
draw the attention of world financial leaders to poverty, pollution and other 
grievances during a meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

   Protesters, some wearing masks of U.S. President Donald Trump, IMF chief 
Kristalina Georgieva and other leaders, dragged a float of a big pink pig with 
dollar signs for eyes toward the venue, briefly blocking traffic near the 
rigorously guarded convention center where more than 15,000 officials and 
experts were gathered for the IMF's autumn meeting.

   The protesters were also demonstrating against financial institutions and 
against what they said were the "vile abuses" of the Thai government and 
financial institutions.

   "Our country is facing a crisis of household debt. Our people are growing 
poorer. Our environment is deteriorating. Climate disasters are intensifying," 
the People's Network Against the World Bank and IMF said in a written 
declaration.

   Thailand has used the meetings as an opportunity to showcase its capital 
city, where luxury hotels and other trappings of extreme wealth contrast with 
shantytowns, fetid canals and people sleeping rough along major thoroughfares.

   Recent severe floods have wrecked crops and damaged millions of homes and 
businesses, adding to the hardships for many Thais.

   Apart from a minor scuffle with police on a pedestrian bridge, the peaceful 
protesters marched from the nearby Khlong Toei slum toward the convention 
center and then disbanded.

   Growing inequality and the challenges posed by climate-related disasters and 
war are among the many problems leaders are discussing during their weeklong 
meetings.

   Thailand is among many low- and middle-income countries, especially net 
energy importers, that have struggled as the Iran war has pushed oil prices 
past $100 a barrel for much of this year. It also is the most income-unequal 
country in the region, according to the World Bank.

   In its latest forecasts, the IMF has warned that rising prices and debt are 
worsening inequality in many of its 191 member economies.

   In Asia, regional economic growth is projected to slow to 4.8% this year 
from 5% in 2025, and then to 4.4% in 2027, dragged lower by the back-to-back 
shocks of the pandemic, the Ukraine war, the Iran war and higher tariffs and 
other trade barriers, IMF economists say.

   The IMF chief and other top economic experts have emphasized the need for 
countries, including Thailand, to ensure they control debt by focusing their 
government spending on helping their most vulnerable people with targeted and 
temporary assistance.