A former International Monetary Fund official says he is ashamed to have had any association with the agency.
Peter Doyle has left the IMF after 20 years and has set out his concerns in a letter to the fund's senior executive director.
The letter has been obtained and published by the broadcaster CNN.
It talks of incompetence, failings and disastrous appointments for the role of IMF managing director, stretching back 10 years.
Mr Doyle was advisor to the IMF's European Department, which runs its programs for Greece, Portugal and Ireland.
He argues the IMF's failure to deliver timely and sustained warnings to the region's dithering politicians had led to widespread suffering for those living in stricken countries and the risk of worse to come, CNN reported.
His letter said one of the reasons the IMF has not delivered on its surveillance of the global economy is European bias.
Mr Doyle said apppointments for managing director over the past decade have been 'disastrous' and even the incumbent - referring to Christine Lagarde - "is tainted, as neither her gender, integrity, or elan can make up for the fundamental illegitimacy of the selection process."
Mr Doyle is thought to be echoing widespread criticism that the head of the IMF is always a European, while the World Bank chief is always a US appointee.
