Greece can do without the 'sympathy' the IMF has shown Niger ...
A malnourished child at an aid centre in Maradi, Niger, during a drought in 2005. Photograph: EPA In Niger, the IMF's loans have done more harm than good as ordinary people have had to pay the price for reckless lending Christine Lagarde's crass comments on Greece have caused an understandable furore in that country. But in Niger, there must be just as much contempt for the IMF director. For in dismissing the plight of mothers in Greece, Lagarde also said she felt more sympathy for " the little kids from a school in a little village in Niger ". If "sympathy" is what characterises the IMF's approach to Niger, then Greece would do better to avoid it. Niger comes into news headlines on a fairly regular basis – associated as it is with cycles of famine and constantly high levels of malnutrition. Less reported is the role of the IMF, along with sister organisation the World Bank, in fuelling this suffering. Niger was a victim of the IMF's n