IMF
Postpones
Kosovo & Pakistan, Waiting for Stronger Governments, Dodges on
Sudan But Answers on Tunisia
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 6, updated -- Questions of Pakistan and Kosovo and the International
Monetary Fund's
longing for strong governments arose at the IMF's fortnightly media
briefing on Thursday. Inner City Press asked, and IMF spokesperson
Caroline Atkinson read out with a cautionary note, the following on
Pakistan:
“On
Pakistan, what is the IMF's thinking after the assassination of
Punjab's governor, as the government loses power -- [here Ms Atkinson
added, “those are Matthew's words”] -- is it realistic to think
the IMF's conditions will be met?”
In
response, she
said Pakistan has been given nine additional months. But what will be
different then?
Later
in the
briefing, Ms. Aktinson read out the rare Balkan question, also from
Inner City Press:
“On
Kosovo, what are the IMF's views on Mr. Thaci's proposal to double
public sector salaries, and on the Council of Europe's allegations
this once and seeming future PM was involved in organ trafficking?”
How
ever
distasteful the organ reference may have been to Ms. Atkinson, she
replied that “we have, as Matthew may know, an eighteen month”
program with Kosovo, the December consideration of which has been
postponed.
A
link between
these two may be that while the IMF does impose conditions on its
loans, it prefers to say that governments, particularly legislatures,
have approved or even chosen between the choices presented by the
IMF. This legitimates the IMF, and also may help in collecting the
money down the road.
Kosovo
is in
political turmoil, and Pakistan no longer even controls large swaths
of its territory -- nor, apparently more importantly to the IMF, its
political space.
Protest in Tunisia, IMF role & even
acknowledgment of question not shown
Submitted
but not
acknowledge during the briefing by Ms. Atkinson was this question,
about Tunisia:
“On
Tunisia, given the IMF's role and statements, what can IMF say about
the unrest that has followed the death of protester Mohamed Bouazizi
and others?”
We
will await the
IMF's acknowledgement and answer of this question, and a more
detailed response on Sudan and the IMF's role in the debt issues, on
which the UN has said “the Bretton Woods institutions are taking
the lead.” Watch this site.
Update
of
1 pm - Two hours after deadline, the following arrived, with the
notation that it should be attributed to an IMF spokesperson:
“We
deeply regret the recent surge of violence in Tunisia. The IMF
remains engaged with the Tunisian authorities and follows the
developments closely. Unemployment in Tunisia has declined slightly
in the last decade, but remains high, especially among the young. In
this context, IMF staff continues to encourage the authorities to
pursue structural reforms critical to achieve higher growth, enhance
competitiveness and address the problem of persistent high
unemployment. Such reforms include measures to increase productivity
by improving the business environment, reforming labor market policy,
increasing capital investment, and modernizing and strengthening the
financial sector.”
We'll
have more on
this.
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