By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, October 30 --
Amid the Ebola crisis and after the International Monetary Fund's $130 million commitment to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, Inner City Press asked IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice for an update at the IMF's embargoed briefing on October 30.
Rice said the outlook has worsened, with region-wide fall offs in travel and tourism. As to the three countries most impacted, there are "large financing needs likely for 2015."
At the Annual Meetings earlier this month, the IMF met with the three countries' authorities, Rice said.
"2015 is going to be a challenging year." If the outbreak spreads, it
would have larger spillovers. The IMF, Rice said, is ready. We'll see.
Also during the October 30 embargoed briefing, Rice said that the IMF's Article IV visit to Egypt will be November 11, under Chris Jarvis.
Rice was asked about including "illicit activities" - drug trafficking and prostitution -- in Gross Domestic Product data but did not answer; Feature News asked about Ghana (on which Inner City Press had
submitted this question: "On Ghana, does the IMF have any comment on the
October 28 launch of the “Civil Society Organization Platform on the
IMF Bailout to Ghana”? Will the IMF meet with the group?")
On Ebola back on August 28 Rice told Inner City Press that the IMF was working on
the ebola
crisis with
the government
of Liberia,
Sierra Leone
and
Guinea. Later came the $130 million commitment.
While
most questions on August 28
concerned IMF
Managing
Director
Christine
Lagarde
being under
investigation
-- she will
brief the IMF
Board “very
soon,” Rice
said, calling
it “highly
unlikely” it
would be on
August 29
along with the
Board's
meeting on
Ukraine --
Inner City
Press also
asked about
Yemen, Ghana,
Pakistan --
and ebola,
IMF transcript
here:
“Has
the IMF
produced any
estimates of
the impact of
the ebola
crisis? Any
IMF responses
to it?”
Rice
read out the
question, then
said that
ebola's "acute
impacts" are
“macro-economic”
and social,
hitting three
“already
fragile”
countries
(Guinea,
Liberia and
Sierra Leone).
He said
"growth is
likely to
slow sharply
in all three
cases" and
significant
financial
needs will
rise: "increased
poverty and
food
insecurity"
and impacts on
employment in
the key
agricultural sector.
Rice
concluded, "We
are actively
working with
all three
countries to prepare...
additional
financing that
may be
required."
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