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SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 13 – Before the International Monetary Fund's February 13 embargoed briefing, Inner City Press asked the IMF to confirm or deny something in the crypto-currency media, that "IMF ADVISES EASTERN CARIBBEAN STATES TO TRIAL DIGITAL CURRENCY." See below.

 Now on April 13 amid the Coronavirus crisis the IMF has announced: "Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued the following statement:  “Today, I am pleased to say that our Executive Board approved immediate debt service relief to 25 of the IMF’s member countries under the IMF’s revamped Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) as part of the Fund’s response to help address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  “This provides grants to our poorest and most vulnerable members to cover their IMF debt obligations for an initial phase over the next six months and will help them channel more of their scarce financial resources towards vital emergency medical and other relief efforts.  “The CCRT can currently provide about US$500 million in grant-based debt service relief, including the recent US$185 million pledge by the UK and US$100 million provided by Japan as immediately available resources. Others, including China and the Netherlands, are also stepping forward with important contributions. I urge other donors to help us replenish the Trust’s resources and boost further our ability to provide additional debt service relief for a full two years to our poorest member countries.”  The countries that will receive debt service relief today are: Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, D.R., The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Togo and Yemen."

  On Togo, which has just suspended three newspapers at the request of France's Ambassador, announced that "the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the sixth and final review of Togo’s economic performance under a program supported by an Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement. The completion of the review enables the disbursement of SDR 96.63 million (about US$131.3 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR247.65 million (about US$ 336.4 million).  Togo’s three-year arrangement of SDR 176.16 million (about US$239.3 million, 120 percent of Togo’s quota) was approved on May 5, 2017 (see Press Release No.17/151 ). In completing the sixth review, the Executive Board also approved the authorities’ request for an augmentation of access under the ECF arrangement of 48.7 percent of Togo’s quota (SDR 71.49 million or about US$97.1 million) to address the urgent financing need stemming from the authorities’ efforts and plans to control the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate its economic impac.  Togo made significant progress during 2017-19 under the Fund-supported program in several areas, while reforms remain incomplete in a key sector. Economic recovery was firming up but has recently been hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Growth projections for 2020 have been significantly revised downwards. The fiscal deficit and the balance of payment financing gap are expected to widen substantially due to revenue loss, higher healthcare spending, and weaker exports."
 
 This while Togo’s media regulator, the Broadcast and Communications High Authority, ordered the privately owned daily Liberté and biweekly L’Alternative to suspend publication on March 23, and ordered weekly Fraternité suspended on March 30, according to copies of the suspension orders reviewed by CPJ.  The orders require Liberté to suspend print and web operations for 15 days, and L’Alternative and Fraternité for two months each.  The orders suspending Liberté and L’Alternative referenced a March 6 complaint filed by the French ambassador to Togo, Marc Vizy. The complaint, a copy of which CPJ reviewed, was published on embassy letterhead and alleged that the papers had published “serious, unfounded, and calamitous” accusations against the French government.  In its order suspending Fraternité, the regulator cited a March 25 report in the paper criticizing the suspensions of the other two newspapers, and alleged that the report was “discourteous, insulting and defamatory.”

  The long time family rule of the country was not addressed, nor have several of Inner City Press pending question been answered. But we remain hopeful.

Inner City Press covers not only the IMF but also all things crypto in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, for example SEC v. Telegram and the prosecution of Virgil Griffith formerly of Ethereum.   Inner City Press asked the IMF, "It is reported that to the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, the IMF suggests to experiment with a common digital currency, on a blockchain. Can you elaborate?"  

 While IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice during the briefing answered Inner City Press' Somalia and Egypt questions, it was afterward that this answer arrived by e-mail, "attributable to Gerry Rice, IMF Spokesman and Director of Communications:    

'The IMF did not suggest to experiment with a common digital currency. In March 2019, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) launched a central bank digital currency pilot project, using blockchain technology, on its own initiative.

  As noted in the IMF Concluding Statement of the 2019 discussion on the common policies of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) member countries, the digital currency could expose the ECCB and the financial system to various risks, including for financial intermediation, financial integrity, and cybersecurity. Given these risks of the digital currency, the IMF stressed that the ongoing pilot project should proceed cautiously.”   

So there. (A OneCoin / Bulgaria question remains outstanding). We appreciate the IMF's answer. Watch this site, for IMF news and... all things crypto, good, bad and ugly.

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