Thursday, February 15, 2018

Inner City Press Asks IMF of Zimbabwe "Usury," Spox Cites Lagarde in Davos, Qs on Iraq & Hungary



By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 15 – When the International Monetary Fund held its biweekly embargoed briefing on February 15, Inner City Press submitted questions about Zimbabwe, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Hungary. Spokesman Gerry Rice took Inner City Press' Zimbabwe question, including the word usurious, then provided assurances that Madame Lagarde met the new president in Davos and the IMF stands ready to help - when other arrears are paid off. 

The IMF did not (yet?) answer these Inner City Press questions: On Iraq, please comment and clarify: MP Abbas Bayati has rejected reports that the IMF has said loans to the central government will be issued on the condition Baghdad guarantees a minimum portion of the national budget for the Kurdistan Region. He said IMF does “not investigate the details of the loans [spent] by Iraq.” True? In Hungary, Norbert Maxin and Bela Bukta have been cleared of handing over damaging information to, or spying for, the IMF. What is the IMF's comment, and its interactions with the two, now that the case is over and the IMF can (and should) speak? Follow up on Sierra Leone, where it's said the IMF instead of using the word “stop” used a softer diplomatic word “delay” of payments... what the Minister of Finance and Baratay are doing is spin the fact. If they win the elections, they will now begin to implement the IMF conditions at the detriment of the ordinary people. In the first place, they agreed on the conditions at the detriment of the ordinary people of this country; their only motive was to receive the money for themselves and use the remainder to fund the elections so that they can stay in power." Back on February 1 on Sierra Leone, Inner City Press asked: "please specify the status of IMF's payments under the $224 million program to the government as relates to the upcoming elections and conditions such as cutting subsidies on rice and fuel." Deputy IMF Spokesman William Murray replied that a review that had been slated to be concluded in December has not been; he dodged on the relation to the election but it definitely calls into question the denials of Sierra Leone's finance minister and his demand that Africa Confidential get fact checkers. On Zimbabwe, Inner City Press asked, "On Zimbabwe, please specify the IMF's advice for clearing foreign debt. Is it, as reported, cuts to public sector wages, reducing farm subsidies, improving transparency in the mining sector & reaching an agreement on compensating farmers?" Murray talked up Managing Director Lagarde's meeting(s) in Davos but said the country still has a ways to go. Transcript and video soon. Back on January 18, Inner City Press asked the IMF about Yemen, Somalia, Tunisia and Cameroon. On Yemen, it asked "With continuing holes in the Yemeni Central Bank, what if anything is the IMF doing?" IMF Spokesperson Gerry Rice read out Inner City Press' question and then said that the IMF is helping to build the Central Bank's capacity amid the humanitarian crisis. Transcript to come. On Somalia, Inner City Press asked of reports that “Somalia owes around $4bn making it almost impossible for Mogadishu to access new funds from the IMF.” The IMF puts the figure at $5.1 billion. What explains the difference, and how could Somalia access new IMF funds?" Rice replied that records were lost in the war and are being reconstructed; for now $5.1 billion is the figure. Again, transcript to come,  - and more on Cameroon and the continued undermining of the Internet and the economy by this big IMF recipient, Paul Biya's government. Before Rice's long Tunisia answer, Inner City Press had asked: "On Tunisia, what is the IMF's comments on its role in imposing austerity on the country since the popular uprising of January 2011? Did the IMF exerted sustained pressure on the Tunisian Central Bank to stop intervening in the currency markets to defend the value of the Tunisian dinar, increasing imports?" The IMF was prepared for this, emphasizing for example that cooking oil will not be subject to the VAT, but sweets and alcohol will. Video and transcript to come. Back on November 30, Inner City Press asked about critiques of the IMF from the Caribbean, about Yemen, Zambia and Kenya. The first three of these were answered. IMF Spokesperson Gerry Rice read out Inner City Press' question: "Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister Allen Chastanet has said of the IMF, 'If you care about the Caribbean, you must change the rules of engagement and allow us to help ourselves.' He's said the billions of dollars in Caribbean loans should be reclassified by the IMF. What is the IMF's response?" Rice said Managing Director Lagarde is aware of the criticism from the Caribbean forum a few weeks ago and that a study is underway including of catastrophe bonds but, he said, the IMF cannot currently do the requested reclassifications to make countries eligible for concessionary financing. On Zambia, Rice notes that Inner City Press at the UN had asked, "Treasury Secretary Fredson Yamba has said Zambia expects to host an IMF mission before the end of the year and hopes to have a $1.3 billion loan deal in place in early 2018. 'Come 2018, we must have a final (IMF) programme. It has taken a long time because the parameters have been changing.' What is the IMF's status with Zambia?" Rice said after the pause in August, progress has been made, the interest is there, but some information and clarifications are still awaited. "We are waiting for further data and details on the government's external borrowing plans," he said. On Inner City Press' Yemen question, Rice said the IMF "donor grants will be needed" for the payment of wages and social assistance and that the IMF is willing to help with macro-stability once the conflict is over. But when will that be? Here was and is Inner City Press' Kenya question: In Kenya, IMF rep Jan Mikkelsen is quoted that “discussions about the current programme and what will follow after the expiration in March are expected to begin soon, with the new government taking office. The authorities have indicated that they are interested to continue a programme relationship with the IMF."Has the IMF taken note of, and what is its comment on, the critique of the election by Raila Odinga and the NASA Coalition? Would the IMF also confer with the opposition?" We'll have more on this.  Back on September 28, Inner City Press asked among other things about the IMF negotiating with a reputed money launder in Congo-Brazzaville, and about corruption charges against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar of Pakistan, also in IMF talks. On the former, IMF Deputy Spokesman William Murray said the IMF is again in Brazzaville, for the third time, having a “series of contacts” on financial assessment. He declined to confirm or deny the IMF is talking with Orion Oil's Lucien Ebata, but this is widely known, as is his dealings in cash, via the Panama Papers. We'll have more on this. Inner City Press' Pakistan question was and is: “On Pakistan, it is reported that “the IMF said it had been told by Pakistani officials that the restrictions [on luxury imports] would be removed within a year but Mr Abbasi now says his government was planning to impose more.” Also, what is the IMF comment on the corruption charges against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar?” But when re-submitting through the IMF's online form, with allows only 300 characters, Inner City Press took out “[on luxury imports]” thinking the IMF would know what restrictions were being referred to, since they imposed them. They did not, and did not address the Ishaq Dar corruption allegations. Yet. Watch this site.