Description
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is the leading international investor in housing finance in emerging market economies and is an active transmitter of housing financialization to these states. Yet, critical approaches towards the role of the IFC within the global financial market remain sparse within IPE literature. This paper hopes to make up for this dearth of literature by drawing attention towards how the IFC continues to play an integral role in shaping the housing markets in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies – despite decreasing relevance of many other International Organizations (IOs) worldwide. The IFC strongly advocates for the growth of the primary mortgage market, and development of the secondary mortgage market (through the creation and trade of Mortgage-Backed Securities) in EMDEs. Further, the IO’s insistence on unregulated commercial subprime mortgage lending and the linking of Mortgage Companies to depositary institutions contributes to the exacerbation of vulnerabilities of economically weaker sections within EMDEs. This research will employ a regulationist approach to explain the sustained influence of the IFC and the impact of its housing investments in EMDEs. Such an analysis will enable us to situate the IFC within the global financial and housing market in a world where the nature of IOs is changing.