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By Matthew Russell Lee, CJR PFT NYP

UNITED NATIONS GATE, May 11 – Germany which has long wanted a permanent seat on the UN Security Council but doesn't even answer Press questions during its current two year elected term, even about its former colony Kamerun, has been the subject of an International Monetary Fund review. Inner City Press, whose questions the Germany PR and Mission to the UN refuse to answer, is an accredited journalist to the IMF, even as the German mission's corrupting UNSG Guterres bans it; here's from the IMF's Germany review, with a veiled reference to Deutsche Bank:

"as wage growth lagged behind, lower incomes stagnated, and a rising share of national income took the form of savings inside the corporate sector, particularly in family-owned and -managed firms. Banks and life insurance companies should accelerate their restructuring to boost profitability and resilience. German banks appear to be well capitalized in risk-weighted terms and hold appropriate levels of liquidity, but profitability continues to be low in important parts of the banking sector while leverage is high among large banks compared to peers. Large banks tend to underperform European peers in market valuation, reflecting high costs and operating weakness, and in some cases provisions for compliance violations. [Can you say, Deutsche Bank?] To enhance resilience in the banking system and guard against potential imbalances in the real estate market, it is time to activate macroprudential instruments.  Gradually raise the counter-cyclical capital buffer, which would enhance resilience in the banking system without materially altering credit supply. Urgently address data gaps to enable a fuller assessment of possible financial stability risks. The ongoing one-off bank survey on real estate lending and corporate credit underwriting standards is a step in the right direction, but regular collection of granular data is needed for effective macroprudential policy-making. Consider an early implementation of the existing borrower-based measures (cap on the loan-to-value ratio and amortization requirements) on residential mortgage lending to prevent the buildup of vulnerabilities in the residential real estate sector. Consider expanding the toolkit by introducing income-based instruments (e.g., cap on debt-service-to-income, cap on debt-to-income) residential loans and appropriate borrower-based measures for CRE loans." We'll have more on this - Germany has to do better, particularly during what remains of its UNSC two year membership, starting now.

   After Paul Biya who has ruled Cameroon for 36 years on January 28 had his opponent Maurice Kamto arrested, Inner City Press again asked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and his spokesmen for their comment and action, if any. This came after Guterres had Inner City Press roughed up on 3 July 2018 after it interviewed Biya's Ambassador about the two men's Budget Committee deals and banned from the UN since - Guterres even tried to get Inner City Press banned from the Park East Synagogue, here, which was denied / dodged by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who put up then took down a podcast in which he brags about his "mutually assured destruction" relationship with journalists, here. After whispers from the UN Security Council about a belated UNSC meeting on May 13, early on the morning of May 6 Inner City Press submitted written questions, this one to the UN Mission of Germany (can you say, Kamerun?) which has done nothing at all about Guterres' now 311 days of banning Inner City Press, and seems to have dropped Inner City Press even from the Week Ahead email list has been on back to the days of Alexander Eberl then Conrad Haessler: "Press Q re Cameroon, any UNSC meeting, German Mission's position on that and continued banning of Inner City Press from entering UN - To info [at] new-york-un.diplo.de, pol-2-6-vn [at] newy.diplo.dethis is a Press request to the German Mission as a member of the UN Security Council to be informed this morning of your Mission's knowledge of any upcoming UNSC meeting about Cameroon of any kind, including Any Other Business informal consultations, whether May 13 or any other date.     Also, what is your country's position on the situation there and what will / would it seek to accomplish at any UNSC meeting (and if there is no meeting, why not). Relatedly, please explain how it is legitimate for the UN to bar entry to Inner City Press after ousting it while it covered the 3 July 2018 Fifth (Budget) Committee then chaired by Cameroon, and asked about this situation and other under-performance by the UN.   Inner City Press' most recent application for re-accreditation to enter and cover the UNSC stakeout, submitted on 15 April 2019, was denied without explanation on April 17. ("Greetings Matthew LEE from ICP     INNER CITY PRESS,  Your media accreditation request, with reference no: M66561081, has been declined.") What has your Mission does, or what will it do, about this?" Five full days later, after a UN noon briefing promoting Guterres' and Dujarric's European junket,  no answer - with the EU's PR to the UN tweets photos of himself with Biya's Tommo Monthe.

 And what of Germany's Ursula Mueller? We'll have more on this.

  More here.

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