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On
IMF Reform, Albright
Admits No Link
to Ukraine,
GWU Burma
Shave
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS
System, April
12 -- What was
billed as
"reflection"
on the
International
Monetary
Fund's 70
years on April
12 degenerated
into a love-fest
for the Fund,
urging the US
Congress to
approve quota
reform, with
little if any
reflection.
In a rare bit
on honesty,
former US
Secretary of
State
Madeleine
Albright admitted
that because
aid to Ukraine
had bipartisan
support the
long-stalled
IMF reform was
attached to
that bill but
didn't work.
She blamed
this not only
on the far
right, but
also the far
left.
Two days after
the G24
set a deadline
for Congress,
the end of
2014, Albright
said passage
of IMF reforms
is unlikely
this election
year. So what
will the G24
and Lagarde
do?
While the panelists
including IMF
managing
director
Christine Lagarde
and former
IMF-er John
Lipsky congratulated
themselves,
reflective questions
went
unanswered
such as on Lagarde's
bragging about
work in
Myanmar despite
that
government now
excluding all
Muslim Rohingya
from its
UN-funded
census. And
where was the
word
"austerity"?
On April 11 when
the
International
Monetary Fund
recently
announced a
staff-level
agreement to
lend $264
million to
Jordan, it was
reported as
"for Syrian
refugees."
Since doing
humanitarian
aid on credit,
or on the
installment
plan, seems
more than a
little
strange, Inner
City Press
submitted a
question to
the IMF's
Middle East
and Central
Asia
Department
director
Masood Ahmed:
"can you
explain the
relation
between this
Stand By
Arrangement
tranche and
the flow of
refugees from
Syria?"
At the IMF's
April 11 press
conference,
this question
was read to
Masood Ahmed
by
communications
officer Wafa
Amr, and Ahmed
offered a
lengthy
answer.
He said
that Jordan's
economy has
been impacted
not only by
Syria but also
disruption of
energy flows
from Egypt.
But, he
specified, IMF
loans are not
for specific
projects or
humanitarian
aid. Still,
that's how it
was reported.
A
representative
of Al Mayadeen
TV asked a
follow up
question about
the Syrian
conflict's
impact on
Lebanon; SABA
asked a
question about
Yemen and then
the press
conference was
over.
This Morocco
question which
Inner City
Press
submitted has
not yet been
answered:
]]>
You
cited
disbursements
to Jordan
Tunisia
but not
Morocco. Where
does that
stand? What is
the impact of
the unresolved
issue of
Western
Sahara, where
it's said
Morocco should
not exploit
resources, and
Morocco's
economic
prospects?
If and when an
answer is
received, we
will report
it. At least
this IMF press
conference
took and
answered
online
question(s),
as urged by
the Free UN
Coalition for
Access.
When at the
IMF three
ministers atop
the G24 group
of developing
countries took
the stage at 6
pm on April
10, they were
fired up
about, or
against, the
US Congress
refusing to
adopt the
so-called
quota reform.
G24
chairperson
Ashraf El
Araby of Egypt
raised the
issue. The
first
questioner --
one of only
three, from a
total of two
media -- asked
what will you
do if the US
doesn't agree
to reform in
six months?
All options
must be
considered,
Amar
Bhattacharya
of the G24
Secretariat
said. Another
questioner
from the same
media asked if
loans
contingent on
the reform
might be
called in.
Amar
Bhattacharya
said that
would have to
be considered.
The only other
questioner
went big
picture,
asking if the
situation of
Ukraine and
Russia was
casting a
shadow on the
IMF and World
Bank meetings.
Senior IMF
Communications
Officer Silvia
Zucchini said
the G24 wasn't
the right
group to
answer that.
And it was
over.
The Free
UN Coalition
for Access
would suggest
that for such
press
conferences
the IMF use
the technology
it uses for
its usual
biweekly
briefings,
where
accredited
journalists
can pose
questions
online from
elsewhere.
Inner City
Press had
questions, but
no way to ask
there. Here
was Inner
City Press' G24 coverage
from two years
ago.
This Spring's
meeting has
coincided with
the death of
former
Canadian
Finance
Minister Jim
Flaherty.
Here is a 2012
QA with
him, about the
Volcker Rule
and Tim
Geithner,
now cashed out
to Warburg
Pincus.
They're
cashing in on
the Umpqua -
Sterling Bank
merger -- but
that's another
story.
After Congress
dropped
International
Monetary Fund
reform from
its
legislation on
Ukraine aid
and sanctions,
earlier today
IMF Managing
Director
Christine
Lagarde calls
the decision
"utterly
disappointing."
In her
embargoed
"Global Policy
Agenda,"
Lagarde
returns to the
theme: "The
delay in
making
effective the
2010 reform
package is
utterly
disappointing...
These reforms
are
essential to
ensure the
continued
legitimacy,
relevance,
financial
strength, and
effectiveness
of the Fund.
Next steps
will build on
the advice of
the Chairman
of the
International
Monetary
and Financial
Committee in
his
consultations
with the
membership
regarding
available
options to
complete the
current round
of the quota
and governance
reform
process, with
the objective
of completing
the 15th
Review by
January 2015."
Seems
like speaking
with Rand Paul
et al
might be a
good idea.
Lagarde also
brags that
"several new
lending
programs have
been put in
place,
including to
support
Armenia and
Albania, while
Poland,
Colombia, and
Mexico
continue to
benefit from
added
liquidity
buffers
through the
Flexible
Credit Line.
Myanmar
completed a
staff-monitored
program that
has triggered
debt relief
from the Paris
Club, and a
major effort
continues to
build capacity
in key areas
of
macroeconomic
management."
Lagarde has no
mention of the
violence in
Rakhine State,
nor of the
Rohingya being
excluded from
the UN-funded
census.
Back on March
27 it was 4:25
am in New York
and Washington
when the International
Monetary Fund
announced its
preliminary
agreement for
a $14 - $18
billion loan
program with
Ukraine.
Inner
City Press
asked the IMF
to confirm or
comment on
reports that
the Ukrainian
"increase the
price of
natural gas
for household
consumers by
an average of
50%" is
attributable
to the IMF.
At the IMF's
9:30 am
embargoed
briefing, IMF
deputy
spokesperson
William Murray
read out the
question then
said that the
program has
five
components,
including
energy sector
reform.
He said
Ukraine will
reduce
subsidies to
the energy
sector, and
that current
prices in
Ukraine are
two to three
times lower
than in
neighboring
countries. He
said, as it
did to other
questions,
that responses
were given in
a press
conference in
Kyiv.
In
New York at
the UN, a
General
Assembly
meeting
started at 10
am. Russia's
Ambassador
Vitaly Churkin
recounted
history and
said radicals
"called the
shots" in the
change of
government.
We've noted
that UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon met
with the
leader of the
Svoboda party
while in Kyiv.
In Washington
later on March
27 the US
Congress is
expected to
act on a $1
billion loan
guarantee to
Ukraine, but
not on the IMF
changes the
Obama
administration
requested.
Obama Press
Secretary Jay
Carney issued
a statement
welcoming the
IMF
preliminary
deal,
concluding
that "We also
remain
committed to
providing the
IMF with the
resources it
needs – in
partnership
with Congress
– to provide
strong support
to countries
like Ukraine
as well as
reinforcing
the Fund's
governance to
reflect the
global
economy."
Two
weeks ago on
March 13, the
day after several
US Senators
argued that
International
Monetary Fund
quota reform
would have to
be approved by
Congress
to enable the
IMF to
meaningfully
assist
Ukraine, Inner
City Press
asked IMF
spokesperson
Gerry Rice if
this is true.
Video
here, from
Minute 12:05.
Rice
genially said
several times
that the
question
couldn't or
wouldn't be
answered while
the IMF
mission is "in
the field" in
Ukraine. He
initially gave
the same
answer to
Inner City
Press'
question that
had nothing to
do with
Ukraine: is it
true, as
Russia
reportedly
argued at the
most recent
G-20 meeting,
that quota
reform could
be
accomplished
without US
approval,
under some set
of rule
changes?
Rice
during the
briefing
repeated this
could not be
answered while
the mission is
in Ukraine.
Later it was
conveyed that
the reform is
not possible
without US
approval. The
answer is
appreciated: a
benefit of
asking in
person. But
Inner City
Press (and the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access)
hope to make
the online
asking of
questions work
better from
now on.
]]>
And
on March 27,
for example,
IMF deputy
spokesperson
William Murray
read out this
question from
Inner City
Press:
]]>
"On
Zimbabwe,
please confirm
IMF is
re-opening its
office and
respond to
Finance
Minister
Patrick
Chinamasa
saying part of
the deal
included
cutting
Zimbabwe's
wage bill from
70 percent of
the budget but
this pledge
will not be
met,
'addressing it
overnight
would mean
very drastic
measures which
I indicated to
them (IMF) I
am not
prepared to
take. That
would mean
retrenchment
of civil
servants.'"
On
March 27,
Murray said he
would not
comment
directly on
what the
Finance
Minister said,
but pointed to
a press
release we
will add a
link to.
Back on March
13 in another
non-Ukraine
question,
Inner City
Press asked
Rice about a
book published
earlier this
week in
Hungary,
that the
then-economy
minister in
2011 told
Goldman Sachs
that the
government
would be going
to the IMF for
a program.
Since much
currency
trading
ensued, Inner
City Press
asked if the
IMF has any
rules limiting
its government
interlocutors
from trading
on or sharing
insider
information.Video
here, from
Minute 31:12.
Rice
said there are
confidential
provisions.
But are those
only for the
contents of
communication
and not the
existence of
communications
or
negotiations?
We'll see.
Follow @innercitypress
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http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/on-imf-reform-albright-admits-no-link-to-ukraine-gwu-burma-shave/
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