IMF
Demands
Foreclosures
Then Won't
Answer, Nor on
Sudan,
Rwanda,
Pakistan
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 13 --
The IMF under
Christine
Lagarde is at
once
demanding the
imposition of
home
foreclosure
regimes and
refusing to
answer
questions
about it.
At
Thursday's
biweekly IMF
press
briefing, the
last of the
year, Inner
City Press
submitted five
questions
including
In
Ireland, many
say the IMF
demanded the
provision
allowing banks
to
seize the
homes of
defaulting
borrowers, in
the Personal
Insolvency
Bill, as a
condition for
IMF lending.
What is the
relation
between
the IMF's
lending to
Ireland and
this home
foreclosure
provision?
Since
the IMF claims
to have left
behind
structural
adjustment and
even
conditionality,
one would
think they'd
want to answer
this question.
But
spokesman
Gerry Rice did
not take it,
and nothing
was provided
afterward to
Inner City
Press before
the embargo
deadline.
Instead,
Rice
fielded
question after
question about
Greece. He was
asked if an
Argentine
official is at
the IMF in the
run-up to
Monday's
deadline;
Rice said he
would respond
after the
briefing. So,
not to those
not
in DC?
Rice
was asked
about
departing Bank
of England
governor
Mervyn King's
prediction of
"competitive
devaluations;"
he responded
about the IMF
being a venue
for all 188
member
countries. On
the US
fiscal cliff,
he referred
back to
comments made
earlier by
Christine
Lagarde.
Inner
City Press
also asked:
"Pakistan's
Finance
Minister says
the ruling
alliance has
spoken with
the
opposition
about its
plans with the
IMF. But the PML-N, PTI
and ANP
say they have
not been
spoken with.
What is the
IMF's
understanding
of such
consultations
in Pakistan?"
This
was not
answered by
deadline; nor
were three of
the five
questions
Inner City
Press posed
two weeks ago,
including
questions on
Sudan,
Rwanda and
Hungary.
On
Rwanda, Mr.
Shinohara's
statement did
not directly
mention aid
cuts offs amid
the M23
controversy.
What *is* the
IMF's position
on that?
On Sudan and
South Sudan,
how does
Khartoum's
announcement
that no South
Sudan oil can
flow through
for now impact
the IMF's
views and
programs?
On
Hungary, what
does the IMF
think of the country's
new foreign
currency bond
plan? Does
it mean no IMF
program any
time soon?
While the IMF
for two weeks
has not
answered this
question, it's
reported that
the IMF will
visit Hungary
in January.
Watch this
site.
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