World finance ministers discuss one trillion dollar bail out

Finance ministers from around the globe are meeting this weekend with one main issue on their minds: how best to spend one trillion dollars to help the world's economy.

But even before a decision has been made, anti-globalization activists are warning that the money may do more harm than good.

The world’s finance ministers have gathered in Washington D.C. to determine what to do with over a trillion dollars promised to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank – the same institutions which have been previously blamed for bankrupting countries.

The protesters who have gathered on the streets of Washington are here for this same reason. They are determined to prevent world leaders from making the same mistakes again.

“This protest is mainly opposed to the policies of the IMF and World Bank, which impoverish other countries,” one of them told RT.

“They are predatory lenders,” echoed another. “They prey on countries that are down on their luck and in debt and they give them loans in ways that completely transforms an economy from one that might have had the potential to work for people to one that works for banks.”

Critics of the IMF accuse it of draining resources from certain African countries such as Equatorial Guinea, which Finance Minister Estanislao Don Malavo is representing.

“Especially coming from Africa, I would like to know how we can restructure the IMF so it can comply with the guidelines and needs of the international community,” Don Malavo pointed out.

And the protesters who have gathered are here to speak out against this controversial institution as well as the very economic system that they blame for the world financial collapse.

“We need to re-focus on the real economy, on human needs,” a protester pointed out.

Most of the protesters are also doubtful that the finance ministers are competent enough to solve the crisis:

“They are the ones that brought this problem on us and I don’t think that they can solve it, no.”

However, the prospects may not be as dark as some of the anti-globalists think. The United States and Russia are using these meetings to hold their own set of bilateral talks.

“I can say that our Presidents, when they met in London, demonstrated hope to start a new era in relations,” Alexey Kudrin, Russia’s Finance Minister explained.

Nevertheless, this new era might not include plans for a “world currency”, which has been much talked about in the world media.

“The time for discussion has come, but the time until a new currency is introduced is still far ahead,” Kudrin explained.