By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 7 -- When
the
International
Monetary
Fund's Meral
Karasulu took
questions
about the
IMF's work in
and assessment
of
Myanmar on
Monday night,
one expected
military rule
and fighting
in
the ethnic
zones to be a
topic.
But
amid the IMF's
rosy view,
pitching for
example
natural gas
reserves, the
world's
major wire
services
focused on
exchange
rates, natural
gas and, in
the case of
AFP, the Paris
Club creditors
getting paid
back their
money.
Inner
City Press
asked Meral
Karasulu two
questions: how
likely does
the IMF think
that a
reversion to
military
rules, and did
the IMF even
consider the
continued
conflict in
Kachin state
in its
assessment?
Meral
Karasulu
politely
dodged the
first
question,
saying that
the IMF has no
"comparative
advantage in
political
analysis,"
even that it
would be
"inappropriate"
to consider
the risk of
reversion.
But as
reported
exclusively
last week by
Inner City
Press, when UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
visited
Myanmar he
thanked and
welcomed a
company
specializing
in
surveillance
technology,
including to
Gaddafi's
Libya, click
here for that
story.
Meral
Karasulu
emphasized the
Myanmar's main
economic
activity is
not in the
ethnic areas.
Asked
where
Myanmar's
reserves
actually are,
Meral Karasulu
said in three
state
owned banks
controlled by
the Ministry
of Finance.
When
she was asked
what
percentage of
Myanmar's
budget is
devoted to the
military she
said she did
not know.
(Perhaps
relatedly, on
Sri Lanka
where the IMF
does have a
lending
program, it
downplays the
growth of
military
spending even
after the
scorched earth
military
compaign of
2009).
Of
corruption in
Myanmar, Meral
Karasulu said
she has "no
anecdotes,"
and
that during
country visits
the IMF can't
see it. Meral
Karasulu will
return to
Myanmar in the
second half of
May. Watch
this site.
