The World Bank's Influence on Water Privatisation in Argentina: The Experience of the City of Buenos Aires

Abstract

Introduction The work of International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in developing countries has been subject to intense criticism in recent years. Detractors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the development agencies forming the World Bank (WB) Group do not only deem that the contents of the policies supported by IFIs are inadequate to overcome the difficulties that member states face, but also criticise the way in which said policies are forwarded to indebted countries, which has been perceived as short of an imposition. In a context of loss of prestige, the role of the IMF and WB Group in the contemporary wave of privatisation of public services has attracted particular attention. Indeed, privatisation has been one of the central reforms sponsored by IFIs for reducing public deficit and stimulating economic growth in developing countries. Among the public services that have been transferred to private operators in recent decades, the case of water and sanitation in urban areas has merited special study. Given their social value and the magnitude of the business that they represent, the success or failure of privatisation processes of water services has attracted in-depth analysis from both supporters and critics of the work of IFIs. This chapter will focus on the role of the WB Group in the privatisation of water services in the city of Buenos Aires. It is by now undisputed that the processes of water services privatisation that IFIs encouraged in Argentina were less than successful.