IMF
Answers ICP on
Serbia, Says
Talking with
Bosnia &
Yemen
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, May
23 -- At the
International
Monetary
Fund's May 22
embargoed
briefing,
spokesperson
Gerry Rice
answered Inner
City
Press'
question about
the Balkan
floods;
afterward, his
office
provided a
response on
Yemen.
From
the IMF
transcript
released
today, video
here from
Minute 26:
GERRY
RICE: Let me
go online for
a minute,
because I've
got a couple
of
questions here
from Matthew
Russell Lee.
He asked
Mali... and
about
the serious
flooding in
the Balkans
which we're
all, of
course, very
concerned
about that.
He's asking
about the
impact on the
countries
of the
Balkans, and
Serbia, and
Bosnia.
Serbia's,
again,
been
significantly
affected. We
have great
concern, also,
about the
human
casualties and
the
wide-spread
damage, but we
do not
yet know the
full extent of
that. As an EU
pre-accession
country
Serbia will be
eligible for
aid from the
EU's disaster
Fund.
In
the meantime,
the IMF
engaged with
Serbia through
our policy
advice,
as well as in
our discussion
with other
international,
financial
organizations
through our
resident
representative.
On Bosnia,
actually, we
have a staff
team on the
ground right
now.
Inner
City Press, beyond Mali
(reported here),
had also asked
about Yemen,
adding the
response to
that as an
update and now
here:
ICP
Question:
Yemen's
Finance
Minister said
the country
will reduce
fuel
subsidies to
get a $500M
IMF program,
hoped to be
concluded by
end of
May. What is
the status,
and what about
fuel shortages
and impacted
Yemenis?
IMF
Answer: A
mission is
discussing
with the
authorities
their economic
reform program
and how the
IMF can
support them.
Well,
a similar
reduction in
subsidies by
the government
in 2005 led
protests that
left dozens
killed and
wounded. And
now, after
deporting a
journalism,
Yemen says it
will inform
about its
military
operations by
putting its
own videos on
YouTube...
Watch this
site.
, 
