As
IMF
Spins Occupy
Wall Street,
Stonewall on
Yemen, Sri
Lanka, Myanmar
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 20, updated
Oct 24 --
The IMF
comments on
the Occupy
Wall Street
protests on
Thursday, a
month after
they began and
two weeks
after ignoring
a Press
question about
them.
Spokesman
Gerry Rice
said, "the
frustration
that being
voiced by
people over
the state of
the global
financial
system is
understandable.
This crisis
has hit
ordinary
people very
hard. Their
trust in the
financial
system overall
has suffered.
That's why the
Fund has been
working with
other to help
reform the
global
financial
architecture
so that all
people not
just a few can
benefit from
it."
After
this response,
Rice proceeded
to decline any
comment on the
reported death
of Gaddafi,
and to
entirely
ignore timely
submitted
questions
about the
IMF's work in
Myanmar, Sri
Lanka defense
spending,
Belarus (see
below)
and Yemen:
On
Yemen, what's
the status of
the IMF's
work? Masood
Ahmed met Ali
Saleh's
Finance
Minister
Nu'aman
al-Suhaibi on
Sept 25 -
is he part of
the immunity
being offered
by the GCC
initiative?
What does the
IMF think of
the GCC
initiative,
specifically
its immunity
provisions?
Lagarde &
UN's Ban
Ki-moon, late
on OWS,
stealth on
Burma (c)
UN Photo
On
Myanmar,
will the IMF's
current
mission there
meet with the
National
League for
Democracy,
Aung San Suu
Kyi or any
opposition
figures?
On
Belarus,
the head
the
National
Bank Nadezhda
Ermakova has
said IMF might
deny a program
based on
"politics,"
also called
recent visit
positive.
Which is it?
How does IMF
view Belarus,
including
human rights?
Despite
its rhetoric,
the IMF under
Christine
Lagarde has
become more
and more of an
insider's
game. We will
add whatever
answers come
in after
deadline --
and we will
continue
reporting on
it.
Update
of 10:55 am
-- after
deadline, the
following
arrived on
Belarus:
The IMF
does not set
political
conditions for
its loans, but
all loans need
to be approved
by the IMF's
Executive
Board, which
contains
representatives
of all
countries.
As the
mission has
said in a
press release
issued on
Monday,
October 17,
“Before
program
negotiations
could begin,
as a first
step, the
authorities
will need to
demonstrate a
clear
commitment—including
at the highest
level—to
stability and
reform and to
reflect this
commitment in
their actions.
Meanwhile, the
IMF staff will
continue to
work with the
authorities to
help them
design
policies to
restore
stability and
prosperity.
Update
on
October 24 --
and then the
next week the
following came
in:
Subject:
Your
question
From:
Oudejans,
Tobias [at]
mf.org
Date: Mon, Oct
24, 2011
To: Inner City
Press
Dear
Mr. Lee,
On
your question
during our
press briefing
last Thursday
regarding Sri
Lanka, we can
let you know
that the Sri
Lankan
government
remains
committed to
further
deficit
reduction in
2012, and we
look forward
to discussing
the details of
the budget
during the
upcoming staff
visit,
currently
planned for
December.
Regards,
Tobias
Oudejans
Senior Press
Officer
External
Relations
Department -
Media
Relations IMF
We
have
written back
to him.
, 
