24 OCTOBER 1998, Page 32

Self-service lending

MICHEL CAMDESSUS, the International Monetary Fund's managing director, bobs up like the rubber duck which he so closely resembles. He has wheedled the money he wants out of Congress and will soon be back in the lending business again. The IMF, so he was saying this week, is guided by a principle of helping those who help themselves. So its critics have noticed.