On
Sudan
IMF Has No
View on Oil
Transit Fee,
Notes
Country's in
Arrears
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 17 -- As
tensions have
escalated
between Sudan
and South
Sudan about
oil transfer
fees and the
size of
Sudan's debt,
Inner
City Press has
repeatedly
asked
the
International
Monetary Fund
for
its view of
the oil fee
dispute and
about possible
debt relief
for
Sudan.
At
the IMF's
Spring
Meetings in
Washington
last month
Inner City
Press put the
question
to IMF
regional
expert Masood
Ahmed. Finally
on Thursday
afternoon,
after Inner
City Press
re-submitted
the question
to the
IMF's
embargoed
briefing that
morning, the
following
arrived:
Subject:
Sudan
questions
Date: Thu, May
17, 2012 at
1:55 PM
From:
[Spokesperson
at] imf.org
To: Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
This
is
in response to
your questions
on Sudan and
South Sudan:
Q
- What is the
IMF doing on
or about the
Sudan - South
Sudan oil
transfer fee
dispute?
At
the
request of the
African Union,
the IMF has
provided
estimates of
the fiscal and
external
impact of
South Sudan’s
separation on
both
countries. The
Fund has not
taken any
position on
the amount of
financial
assistance or
oil transit
fees that
South Sudan
could pay.
Q
- … and about
any debt
relief for
Sudan?
The
Fund
is discussing
with the
authorities
economic
policies to
help
stabilize the
situation and
implement
reforms to
sustain more
inclusive
growth. These
could underpin
a new Staff
Monitored
Program.
Despite
Sudan’s good
cooperation on
policies and
payment to the
Fund under
successive
SMPs, Sudan
remains in
arrears to the
IMF and
therefore
ineligible to
use Fund
resources.
These
answers are
appreciated;
among the
questions that
remain
outstanding is
"What
is
the status of
IMF programs
in and reviews
of Mali and
Guinea
Bissau, given
coups in each
country? "
If
the IMF's work
on the Sudans
was at the
request for
the African
Union, what
about
ECOWAS and
these two coup
d'etats? Watch
this site.
, 
