SDNY COURTHOUSE,
April 2 – When the
International Monetary Fund
held its biweekly embargoed
press briefing on March 25,
Inner City Press asked about
Pakistan, Costa Rica and
African finance ministers'
comments on SDRs and COVID
vaccines. Video
forthcoming.
Spokesperson Gerry Rice
responded on each, below.
Now on April 2 to
Kenya, this: "On April 2,
2021, the Executive Board of
the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) approved 38-month
arrangements under the
Extended Credit Facility (ECF)
and the Extended Fund Facility
(EFF) for Kenya in an amount
equivalent to SDR 1.655
billion (305 percent of quota
or about US$2.34 billion) to
support the next phase of the
authorities’ COVID-19 response
and address the urgent need to
reduce debt
vulnerabilities.
Approval of the ECF/EFF
enables immediate disbursement
of about US$307.5 million,
usable for budget support.
This follows Fund emergency
support to Kenya in May 2020
(100 percent of quota,
equivalent to US$739 million
at the time of approval, see
Press Release No.
20/208). Kenya was hit
hard at the onset by the
COVID-19 pandemic. With a
forceful policy response, the
economy has been picking up
heading into 2021 after likely
posting a slight contraction
of 0.1 percent in 2020. Even
with this recovery, challenges
remain in the return to
durable and inclusive growth,
and past gains in poverty
reduction have been
reversed. The COVID-19
shock also exacerbated the
country’s pre-existing fiscal
vulnerabilities. Kenya’s debt
remains sustainable, but it is
at high risk of debt
distress....
At the conclusion
of the Executive Board’s
discussion, Ms. Antoinette
Sayeh, Deputy Managing
Director and Acting Chair,
stated: “The
authorities’ program charts a
clear path to reduce
debt-related risks. It will
bring the primary balance
below its debt-stabilizing
level during the EFF/ECF
arrangements and restore tax
revenue – which had been
falling even before the
COVID-19 shock – back to
levels achieved in recent
years. The authorities should
continue to provide necessary
support to the economy and
secure space for social and
development spending even as
they have appropriately
reversed some extraordinary
measures, including the
temporary tax cuts which ended
in January, 2021."
Back on March 25,
Inner City Press asked, "On
SDRs to low-income and
middle-income countries,
African finance ministers
noted that IMF’s PRGT should
be considered for this, that
funding the PRGT with SDRs
could facilitate the
acquisition of vaccines by
low-income countries - what is
the IMF's response and view?"
The IMF's
Rice among other things cited
$24 billion since COVID hit,
including "recycled" SDRs.
Inner City Press
asked, On Costa Rica, what are
the IMF's comments on and
reactions to protests ats the
government tries to eliminate
hundreds of “pluses” /
supplementary payments that it
pays employees - "it is all at
risk if the IMF bill gets
greatly watered down in the
face of protests, according to
Fernando Losada, director of
emerging market research for
Oppenheimer & Co.
Inc. “Execution risks
remain high,” Losada wrote in
a note. IMF?
The IMF's
Rice said the bill is supposed
to be passed in May and would
bring "equity" to public
employments.
Inner
City Press
asked, On
Pakistan, what is the IMF's
role in and response to that
the government has decided to
raise electricity prices
considerably over the next few
years, which many attirbute to
the IMF? It's said the federal
government will have increased
the price of electricity by Rs
4.6 per unit by the year
2023. In the short term,
electricity price is set to
rise by Rs 2.55 per unit by
June 2021."
The IMF's
Rice said the reforms are the
decision of Pakistan
authorities. Full transcript
to follow.
Back
on March 11 in a question
Inner City Press, given what
it has reported on for the
past three days was compelled
to ask, it sent and asked, "On
Honduras, given mounting
evidence including in the
trial of Geovanny
Fuentes-Ramirez that high
government officials are
implicated in
narco-trafficking, what are
the IMF's comments on current
programs and safeguards in
place?"
As noted,
Spokesperson Rice said that
IMF does not comment on
(pending) judicial
proceedings. At least he took
the question.
Watch this site.
Back on January 8
Inner City Press asked the
IMF's Helge Berger, Mission
Chief, about China's so-called
Belt and Road Initiative:
"Your Article IV report cites
China's "overseas lending
projects" amid "rising
geopolitical tensions and
economic and trade frictions."
How does the IMF think that
rising debt levels among
African countries, and
increased skepticism about the
"Belt and Road" will impact or
be addressed going forward?
-Matthew Russell Lee, Inner
City Press. Video here.
Berger
responded about
the IMF's work
to provide
lower income
countries
"breathing
space." He
said while the
IMF generally
welcomes the
BRI it stresses the
need for
transparency,
where the
money is
going.
(An aside: Inner
City Press has
reported on
the CEFC China
Energy Fund
Committee's
activities in
Chad and
Uganda and in
the UN, on
which the UN is
UNresponsive.)
Other questions
included
China's digital
currency (Inner
City Press also reports
on
crypto-currency
cases in the
U.S. District
Court for the
Southern
District of
New York and
elsewhere).
Berger said
when used
overseas an
issue is that
residents
could start
using another
country's
currency, if
it is easier.
We'll have more
on this.
***
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