The IMF has a protest problem

It has been a tumultuous few months for the International Monetary Fund’s borrowers. In June protests brought thousands onto the streets in Kenya after William Ruto, the president, laid out the spending cuts required to convince the IMF to disburse the latest instalment of the country’s $3bn bail-out. Two months later, Sheikh Hasina, prime minister of Bangladesh, which also has a programme with the fund, was ousted when reforms to the country’s bureaucracy sparked riots. Now, however, the fund’s priority for Bangladesh, Kenya and Pakistan is “inclusive growth", a catch-all term that places reducing inequality and providing public services alongside economic expansion and liberalisation. In Kenya Mr Ruto’s finance bill promised short-term cuts to health and education, both popular spending areas.