IMF
Spins
Egypt's Need,
Half
Answer on
Unelected
Military SCAF,
Pledge
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 23, updated
11:36 am --
Even as
criticism of
the
International
Monetary Fund
grows in Egypt
and for not
living up to
its so-called
Arab Spring
pledge of $35
billion, the
IMF at its
biweekly
briefings
refuses to
take or answer
questions in
this regard.
As
it
did on Feburary
9, Inner
City Press as
soon as
Thursday's
briefing
began asked,
"How much of
the $35
billion 'Arab
Spring'
pledge has the
IMF disbursed,
given the
criticism
from, among
others,
UAE's Younis
Haji
al-Khouri?"
This
time,
Inner City
Press added
this specific:
"On Egypt,
what is
the IMF's
response to
public calls
that the new
Egypt cannot
be bound
by IMF
contracts with
an unelected
military
government,
and that all
or some of
Egypt's $36
billion in
debt should be
forgiven?"
Christine
Lagarde's
spokesman
Gerry Rice
took a full
half hour of
questions
about Greece,
then online
questions
ranging from
the Dominican
Republic and
Italy
to Argentina
and a single
question on
Egypt. But it
was not about
debt relief or
loans to
unelected
military
governments,
but rather a
softball, what
does the IMF
suggest?
Rice
began
"we don't yet
have a program
with Egypt so
I won't get
into details"
-- then said
that "growth
has stalled"
and "foreign
exchange
reserves
dropped."
The pitch,
then,
is that Egypt
needs the IMF,
even if its
the SCAF
taking out
more
debt on top of
the $36
billion run up
under Mubarak.
Update
of 11:36 am --
an hour after
embargo
deadline,
these answer
were provided
and we publish
them in full:
Dear
Mathew,
Sorry we could
not take up
your questions
during the
press
briefing, but
I can offer
you the
following
responses on
the Arab
Spring and
Egypt.
On the Arab
Spring: As we
said in the
context of the
Deauville
initiative and
as the
Managing
Director of
the IMF
repeated in
her interview
with Asharq Al
Awsat
recently, the
IMF can make
available $35
billion in
loans for the
MENA region’s
oil- importing
countries upon
request. Such
loans would be
in support of
the
governments’
and the
central banks’
macroeconomic
policy
programs and
at their
request and,
like
elsewhere, are
provided on
favorable
terms to help
countries
transition to
where they can
once again
secure
financing from
the market. At
the moment, we
are in
discussions
with the
Egyptian
authorities on
a possible
IMF-supported
program to
help stabilize
Egypt’s
economy,
restore
confidence,
lay the
foundations
for
job-creating
growth, and
ensure that
vulnerable
households are
protected
during the
transition.
And we stand
ready to
engage in
similar
discussions
with any
country that
requests it.
Egypt: As we
said
repeatedly, we
clearly want
to support a
program that
addresses
Egypt’s
economic
challenges, is
designed and
fully owned by
the Egyptian
authorities,
and enjoys
broad
political
support. The
latter is
essential to
ensure the
success of any
economic
reform
program.
We'll
have more on
this.
Footnote:
Because the
IMF
under Lagarde
has become
even less
responsive
than under DSK
-- who
recently spent
a night in
jail during an
ongoing police
investigation
of a
prostitution
ring -- Inner
City Press
killed off a
recent UN
lunch hour at
an event by
the IMF's
Special
Representative
to the UN
Elliott
Harris.
Inner
City
Press asked
Harris, what
about the
criticism of
the IMF not
spending
Lagarde's Arab
Spring pledge?
What about the
charge that
the
IMF's
austerity
bailout in
Greece is
meant to help
countries (and
banks) other
than Greece?
Harris
genially
replied that
Lagarde's
pledge
represented
only lending
"capacity,"
and emphasized
that Egypt
hasn't
accepted an
IMF program.
He said he
"regrets"
Greece. Don't
we all.
Watch this
site.
, 
