IMF Tells ICP No Moratorium Request After Irma From Barbuda, Waiting on Ghana, DRC

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 21 – When the International Monetary Fund re-started its biweekly embargoed press briefings on September 14, Inner City Press submitted questions about Hurricane Irma and moratoria, Mozambique, DR Congo and Ghana. The first two got answered. Inner City Press asked: "On Antigua and Barbuda, and Hurricane Irma impacted countries more generally... will there be no moratoria? What is the IMF doing?" IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice said, "There's a question from Matthew Lee on moratorium... on that, I would refer to what Mme Lagarde said a few days ago, of course the IMF has tremendous sympathy. She also said we stand ready to help. There are a number of options we can look at in that context. At the moment we are still trying to make an assessment. As a factual member, none of our members including Antigua and Barbuda have formally requested assistance from the Fund." Oh. On Mozambique, he called again for the publication of the full audit. Inner City Press also asked, "On the DR Congo, what is the IMF's response to civil society requests it has received that the Fund end its dealings with the National Petroleum Company of the Congo (SNPC), specifically that “if the IMF obtained the dissolution of Cotrade, a subsidiary of the SNPC, it can also demand and obtain the dissolution of the SNPC and the major works”?On Ghana, what is the IMF's response to civil society saying “the Finance Minister, in particular, is facing conflict of interest investigation with USA SEC, Ghanaian SEC and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in Ghana... We are losing hope as the IMF seems not concerned about all these developments”?Watch this site and see IMF's July 20, 2017transcript: , with Inner City Press' question at that time: "Ghana President, Nana Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday said the country will not extend its three-year aid program with the IMF beyond April 2018. The IMF had urged it to do so to give it time to complete the program’s goals. Did the IMF so urge? A step back real quick for some context. Right now, we’re in the process of completing the fourth review of Ghana’s ECF program. We’ve made significant progress in program discussions, and we expect to reach understandings in all remaining issues in the coming days. The discussions are going to continue and as a result of these continuing discussions, a Board discussion to complete the fourth review probably won’t take place until late August. Again, Media Relations will get back to everyone on the exact timing. But it’s probably late August when Ghana’s fourth review will be taken up by the Executive Board.
Now, the question that was just posed was regarding a comment about extension of the ECF next year when it’s scheduled to expire. The President made it clear that he would like to move Ghana beyond aid. And successful completion of the IMF-supported program could be instrumental in achieving this goal by restoring macroeconomic stability in Ghana. A request for program extension is essential for our ability to complete the review of this program overall. And given the significant fiscal slippages from last year, it will also take longer to bring debt onto a clearly declining path, which explains the need for the program to cover performance into later next year. This was something that was outlined in a press release issued by the finance minister on July 18th. Mozambique: the IMF’s Mr. Lazare, our mission chief, has said that, quote, “critical information gaps remain unaddressed regarding the use of loans, proceeds”, close quote. Please be more specific about what the IMF sees as the information gaps, and how they can be filled, with what information and in what detail? First of all, we welcomed and continue to welcome the fact that the delivery of an international forensic audit on three companies to the office of the public prosecutor of Mozambique has taken place. We commend Mozambique public prosecutor for undertaking this important audit and for releasing the summary of the report. Transparency and good governance are key conditions for sustainable, inclusive growth, and that applies to all countries. Now we look forward to the publication of the entire audit report in due course. At that point, we will be able to provide an informed view on the audit and its implications. Still UNanswered: "On Zambia, Fitch has “said the key risk stemming from the current political tension if it escalated could jeopardize an IMF aid package as well as other lender's willingness to provide the southern African nation with external financing” and that “progress towards an IMF program has remained slow and may be delayed further by domestic political events, adding that expectation of an IMF program was key to Zambia's B/negative sovereign rating.” Please comment on if progress is slow and on these risks. In Sri Lanka, Joint Opposition’s Parliamentarian Bandula Gunawardana on July said that the country's Inland Revenue Act, in accord with the agreement arrived at with the IMF, is “an attempt to sabotage all forms of tax relief provided by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa during his tenure as the Finance Minister, and clarified that state-sponsored relief was also included under the new Act.” Is that the IMF's understanding of the Inland Revenue Act? Please comment. If there is an updated view about the Internet cut off (lifted only after 94 days) and other restrictions in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon injuring “Silicon Mountain." Back on June 22 Inner City Press submitted questions about Zambia, Cameroon and Haiti, where it was.During the embargoed briefing, IMF Spokesperson Gerry Rice read out Inner City Press' Zambia question and said, "implementation of the remaining actions in the next few weeks will enable us to present the authority's request for an Extended Credit Facility arrangement to the Board, and we expect that to be in August of this year." But this Haiti question has yet to be answered: "Chris Walker said reconstruction from the effects of Hurricane Matthew, and investments in health, education, and social services... will be achieved in part through the elimination of excessive subsidies, including subsidies for retail fuel sales. Please specify the IMF's thinking on time timing and range of subsidy elimination and ideas for EDH utility." On this and Cameroon (see below), we'll have more.  On Cameroon, Inner City Press has repeatedly asked for the IMF's "updated view about the Internet cut off (lifted only after 94 days) and other restrictions in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon injuring 'Silicon Mountain.'" Watch this site: we'll stay on this. The next IMF briefing is July 13. From the IMF's May 11 transcript, of its Deputy Spokesperson Willam Murray: "I’ve got a question from Inner City Press on Sri Lanka. Do recent government moves on the Inland Revenue Act make it more likely the IMF Board will act on the request for completion of the second loan review in June and make a third disbursement? Again, it’s a question about Sri Lanka and the Inland Revenue Act and the likelihood of completing the second review. We had a staff level agreement in Sri Lanka on May 3rd, last week. We noted in announcing that agreement that it’s subject to completion of a prior action by the authorities, which is submission of the Inland Revenue Act to Parliament. And that was a prior action that was agreed earlier this year. Our legal experts are still analyzing the content of the new draft bill, and are in discussions with the Sri Lankan authorities. That’s where we stand at the moment on Sri Lanka." The answer's appreciated.  Back on April 12 when at its Spring Meetings the IMF held its Middle East and Central Asia press conference, Inner City Press submitted this question: "Please describe the IMF's view and possible plans on Yemen, given the crisis there, including on President Hadi's proposed moving of the Central Bank out of the capital to Aden. What is the IMF's view of and any assistance to the Central Bank's performance?" After the briefing, the IMF provided this answer: "The humanitarian and economic impact of the conflict has been devastating; it has caused many deaths, depressed economic activity, and destroyed much of Yemen’s infrastructure. There is now even a tangible risk that the conflict could lead to famine in some parts of Yemen. Yemenis food supply relies largely on imported staples, like wheat and rice. Yemen needs urgently foreign exchange grants from donors to pay for imported food. But Yemenis also need to be able to buy the food that is imported. Resuming paying public salaries and social assistance grants in all of Yemen is therefore also urgently needed. Given these needs, the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) could be the pivotal player for facilitating food imports and for resuming paying public salaries and social assistance grants in all of Yemen. But to play this humanitarian role, the central banks in Aden and Sana’a need urgently to find a way to cooperate in the interest of providing sufficient food to all Yemenis.  Fund engagement is currently limited. We support the Yemeni authorities and the international community to the best of our abilities.The Fund stands ready to re-engage more fully as soon as the conflict is resolved to help rebuild economic institutions, jumpstart growth, and stabilize the economy."

 Back on April 6 when the IMF held its biweekly embargoed press briefing, Inner City Press asked Spokesperson Gerry Rice about South Africa, Zambia, Bosnia, Nigeria and the UN, Cameroon and other issues. On Zambia, Inner City Press asked, "On Zambia, please state if a sale / privatization of Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel) is no longer a condition for an IMF program with the country, as inferred from the recent list of conditions issued by the IMF's Tsidi Tsikata." After the briefing, an IMF Spokesperson replied to Inner City Press that "We have made progress towards reaching understandings on an economic program that could be supported by an IMF arrangement. There is broad agreement on key objectives, targets, and policies. We have agreed to continue discussions at the forthcoming April 2017 Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank here in Washington D.C. At this stage, it is premature for us to get into specifics on policy actions such as sales of parastatals."

  On South Africa, Inner City Press asked "does the IMF have any comment on the recent firing of the finance minister? Separately, have there been any discussions of a possible program with South Africa?" Rice said that no request for a program has been received -- "the South African authorities have not requested a program from the IMF" -- and that the IMF normally does not comment on "domestic politics." He went ont to say, "it's important that institutions remain strong and the government can be united on policies for inclusive growth for all South Africans." We'll have more on this.

  On Bosnia, Inner City Press asked the IMF, among other things: "what the IMF's comment on opposition, from farmers and the Republika Srpska to the excise tax on fuel which it is reported is a condition for the IMF's program?" Early on April 6, prior to the embargoed briefing but there reiterated at it, the IMF's mission chief for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Mr. Nadeem Ilahi, said: "The IMF took note that the BiH parliament did not adopt the amendments to the law on excise tax and the new law on deposit insurance during a session held on April 5, 2017. This will have implications for mobilizing external financing for much needed infrastructure projects and for the authorities’ efforts to modernize banking sector legislation. Both are key requirements of the authorities’ program, supported by the IMF under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). We now expect a significant delay in completion of the first review of the program.   In recent months, the authorities have made good progress in implementing economic reforms supported by the EFF, particularly by strengthening fiscal discipline, safeguarding financial stability, and improving business environment. We stand ready to assist the authorities in continuing the implementation of structural reforms to unlock growth potential and maintain macroeconomic stability, including through IMF advice and technical assistance.The authorities need more time to make further progress in a number of key areas of their program, such as securing financing for key infrastructure project, modernizing banking sector legislations, and improving corporate governance of state owned enterprises. In the period ahead, we will maintain close dialogue with the authorities and remain committed to assist them in their efforts.” We'll have more on this.

IMF Answers Inner City Press on Malawi Retrenchment, Says Global Fund Steps In to end of 2016-17 Fiscal Year

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 7 -- When the International Monetary Fund held is biweekly briefing on December 3, Inner City Press submitted a number of questions, including about Malawi but also on Burundi and how much the IMF projects the economy will contract, given the crisis triggered by Pierre Nkurunziza's third term, see below.

   Inner City Press asked, "On Malawi, it is reported that the IMF''s 'recent decision to withhold its latest loan money to the Malawian gov''t could have dire implications for health care. Malawi has put on hold the hiring of 51 medical graduates and a host of health professionals.' What is the IMF''s response?"

 On December 7, an IMF Spokesperson returned with this:

"Currently, the high rate of inflation is eroding living standards of the most vulnerable segments of the Malawian population, and is also dampening private sector confidence, reducing investment demand, and curtailing the economic growth needed to reduce poverty. IMF staff policy advice therefore recommends a certain amount of fiscal retrenchment, combined with tight monetary policy over the short term, as these are necessary to the disinflation process. During this period, IMF staff recommend that Government carefully prioritizes expenditure so as to protect both vulnerable groups and social spending. In this respect, IMF staff are pleased to note that Government is proceeding with the hiring of the graduating medical students and other health care workers, and has arranged for the Global Fund to pay the associated costs up to the end of the 2016/17 fiscal year."

   During the December 3 briefing, IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice read out Inner City Press's Burundi question (and its question on Zambia, below), then said the following as to Burundi, audio here:

“In terms of the outlook in Burundi, it's effected by the decline in economic activity there and the . withdrawal of donor support. Confidence in the economy has been weakened by the political climate and adverse security developments. The growth rate in Burundi, which we had initially projected 5% in 2015, is now estimated at minus 4.1% in real terms.... In the current environment, completion of the 7th and the 8th review under our program there is not possible and as such, Burundi's program with the IMF, which is an ECF arrangement, is now off track.”

  Inner City Press had also asked, on Zambia, it is reported that the IMF “proposed a $1 billion facility which the president had turned down. A sticking point for the president was the insistence by the IMF that government commit to drastic reductions in expenditure, particularly on road construction.” What is the IMF's response?

   Rice said that no program has been “formally” requested, but that the Zambian authorities committed to “internal consultations.” Inner City Press had asked about Sri Lanka, and the same “no formal request yet” answer was given.Audio here.
 Inner City Press also asked about Malawi and, lastly, Ghana; more on this to follow.

On October 29, Inner City Press asked IMF spokesperson Rice “in Jamaica, the National Democratic Movement has blamed the IMF for the country's 'health-care system becoming a national disgrace.' What is the IMF's response?”

  Rice during the IMF's embargoed briefing read out this question, audio here, and said he does not agree, that Jamaica's 2015-16 budget includes an increase for the Ministry of Health. Audio of full answer here.

  The IMF left unanswered, for then, Inner City Press' question about Antigua and Barbuda, below, then later sent this: "With regards to your question on Antigua Barbuda, I am afraid we won’t be able to help. I checked with Mr. McIntyre and he tells me that he does not recall making any comments on the issue you referred."

 Inner City Press has replied: "Thanks for getting back to me. I should have been clearer - it wasn't that he'd commented directly on the Antigua and Barbuda scandal; he was quoted about “concessions.” See, e.g.,http://antiguaobserver.com/imf-advises-cut-concessions/ and compared to the lobbying for concessions detailed in the U.S. government charge sheet. The request is for some IMF comment on this, including given the IMF's oft-expressed anti-corruption concerns."

 The IMF, it seems, should be more responsive: the Gleaner for example opines that “in 2014, Jamaica paid $138 million more to the IMF than it received from it. We are constantly being told Jamaica passed the IMF test. Look at the punitive primary surplus imposed on Jamaica. At 7.5%, it is way above what is being asked of any other country in the IMF program. It is 4% for Cyprus, 3% for Ireland, 3% for Greece, 3% for Portugal and a puny 1% for Ukraine. One has to wonder why Jamaica is being treated this way.”

  Here is another question Inner City Press submitted on October 29, still without answer:

In light of the UN Special Rapporteur's report on human rights (non) compliance by the World Bank, presented this week at the UN, please summarize how the IMF considers the human rights impacts on its decisions.

  We'll have more on this.

  Back on July 8 when the International Monetary Fund released reviews and papers about the United States, complete with support of the Dodd Frank Act and mentions of anti money laundering protection Inner City Press asked about the proposal to raise the definition of Systemically Important Financial Institution from $50 billion up to $500 billion and if tight AML strictures are to blame for cutting off remittances to Somalia.

  Aditya Narain, IMF mission chief for the Financial Sector Assessment Program and deputy director, Monetary and Capital Markets department, told Inner City Press that the IMF believes such definition should give predictability, but should be based on risk and not necessarily only asset size.

  Narain told Inner City Press, "On the first one, our general belief is that supervisory approaches should be risk based, and therefore the materiality and proportionality of institutions should be taken into account for to develop supervisory frameworks. At the same time, we also recognize that it’s important to have some clear rules, regarding a unit, in this case size of institutions, because not only does it set a baseline of expectations, but it also provides a useful framework for people to anchor their expectations on. So that’s why, in a sense we would agree that it’s important to make these approaches risk based and therefore not dependent on size alone. I should add also, that our only political ideology is financial stability, for the purpose of this exercise.

  But will this be used FOR the Senator Richard Shelby draft bill?

  On remittances, Aditya Narain said it is an important question but one that the IMF is dealing with in other venues; it apparently wasn't raised to the US during this process. Why not?

 Narain told Inner City Press, "On the regulatory question, this is an issue which is being discussed in several forums where the IMF has been participating, and this is an issue not just for the US, although it has been most discussed in the context of the US, but the effects of the AML on remittances and the result, the stringent adherence to standards has led to a concern more globally that might be affecting the flow of remittances to those jurisdictions... where such remittances and the channels through which they flow are more important. We have not discussed this... there is work ongoing in the Fund, including in collaboration with other institutions like the World Bank... and we expect to be able to have more information on this in a few months time."

   In the embargoed media conference call, two questions in a row went to the Financial Times, which opined that the IMF report takes the side of the Democratic Party. The IMF disagreed. The IMF said, in writing, “As the epicenter of the global financial crisis that began in 2008, the United States passed a major law in 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act, to reform its financial system. Officials need to complete the rulemaking under the law, while parts of reform agenda face legislative proposals to water them down.”

   Central Banking asked two questions and Reuters one, on federal insurance regulation.  Watch this site.

IMF Answers Inner City Press on Iraq and Mozambique, Not on UN Antigua Corruption Case or Rights

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 12 -- When the International Monetary Fund held its bi-weekly embargoed press briefing on November 12, Inner City Press asked about and got answers about Iraq and Mozambique, but not about human rights or the widening UN system John Ashe corruption scandal.

 On Iraq, IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice read out Inner City Press' question then listed some of the issues; energy subsidies and reforms (or sell off) of state owned enterprises are, of course, the main sticking point. Rice said the IMF Board will consider it early in 2016.

 On Mozambique, Rice summarized the staff-level preliminary agreement on an 18-month program that could be supported by an IMF Standby Credit Facility and said it will be considered by the IMF Board in mid-December. These new November 12 Inner City Press question have yet to be answered:

ICP: On Somalia, a recent UN Security Council resolution “encourages implementation of IMF-recommended reforms to enable the initiation of a Staff Monitored Program.” Please describe the IMF recommended reforms, in particular steps needed to  enable the initiation of a Staff Monitored Program.”

ICP: On Egypt, what is the IMF's estimate of or thinking on the suspension of flights after the downing of Metrojet Flight 9268?

  At the November 12 briefing, Rice was asked if Managing Director Lagarde will discuss Greece and refugees at the upcoming G20 in Turkey, and about the imminent "lending into arrears" a/k/a Ukraine policy change. We'll have more on this.

On October 29 amid complaints about the impact of IMF programs, Inner City Press asked IMF spokesperson Rice “in Jamaica, the National Democratic Movement has blamed the IMF for the country's 'health-care system becoming a national disgrace.' What is the IMF's response?”

  Rice during the IMF's embargoed briefing read out this question, audio here, and said he does not agree, that Jamaica's 2015-16 budget includes an increase for the Ministry of Health. Audio of full answer here.

  The IMF left unanswered, on October 29 and November 12, Inner City Press' question about Antigua and Barbuda, below; there will be more about Dominica.

 The IMF, it seems, should be more responsive: the Gleaner for example opines that “in 2014, Jamaica paid $138 million more to the IMF than it received from it. We are constantly being told Jamaica passed the IMF test. Look at the punitive primary surplus imposed on Jamaica. At 7.5%, it is way above what is being asked of any other country in the IMF program. It is 4% for Cyprus, 3% for Ireland, 3% for Greece, 3% for Portugal and a puny 1% for Ukraine. One has to wonder why Jamaica is being treated this way.”

  Here are two other questions Inner City Press submitted on October 29, still without answer:

On Antigua & Barbuda, in light of recent comments by IMF Mission Chief Arnold McIntyre, what is the IMF's view of and comment on the information in the US FBI's charge sheet and indictment of Antigua's former ambassador (and former UN PGA) John Ashe, particularly with regard to corruption in the country?

In light of the UN Special Rapporteur's report on human rights (non) compliance by the World Bank, presented this week at the UN, please summarize how the IMF considers the human rights impacts on its decisions.

  We'll have more on this.

On September 17 amid the refugee crisis, Inner City Press asked IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice  "what does the IMF see as its role in the current refugee crisis, both some countries of arrival, and in the countries people are leaving?"

  Rice replied, in the televised briefing:

I want to take a question from our colleague [Inner City Press] because he’s asking about another issue that’s very much on our minds I think these days which is -- he’s asking what does the IMF see as its role in the current refugee crisis, both countries of arrival and countries where people are leaving. Well the first thing I’d say is obviously this is a massive humanitarian crisis. The concern first and foremost is for the people effected and the IMF shares that concern. The magnitude of the crisis is indeed extraordinary. As you know European political leaders are working together on the response and we believe managing the crisis will indeed require collective concerted action. On the implications which he was asking about, on the economic cost, on the fiscal dimensions, obviously the crisis is still evolving, so it’s too early for us to estimate specific fiscal impact. It’s going to be case by case in terms of countries, however past international experience with surges in immigration suggest the speed with which immigrants are integrated into the labor force is a crucial factor.

On the European dimension of this crisis there are many factors at play and it’s difficult to make again an economic assessment at this moment but we are working on it and we will be coming back to you in due course on this. I just want to finally mention that Europe is not the only region affected by this issue. Many countries in the Middle East and North Africa, for example, perhaps most notably Jordan and Lebanon have been hosting large numbers of refugees from conflict areas including Iraq and Syria and they have been shouldering heavy burdens in accommodating the refugees basic needs for multiple years now.

The IMF has been involved in this issue in terms of dialogue, in terms of urging the international community and most specifically in our programs where needed and where appropriate. We have been trying to create -- help countries create the fiscal space which is something that we can help them with specifically. Create the fiscal space to accommodate some of these large refugee issues. This was the case for example in Jordan recently."

We'll have more on this.

  Inner City Press also asked the IMF, "In Tunisia, Managing Director Lagarde was quoted that 'It is necessary to really work and to consider that these economic reforms are a priority, decisive.' Can you say if these reforms include ending or limited subsidies and tax increases on, for example, gasoline? What process and timeline does the IMF envision for Tunisia?"

  After the embargoed briefing ended, this was provided by IMF:

“These reforms include a sound banking system, a more efficient government and civil service, a fair and efficient tax system, investment-oriented public spending, a business environment more conducive to investor risk taking, and a modern social safety net are key to maintaining growth and creating jobs in Tunisia. On energy subsidy reforms, the decline in international oil prices led to a 1.6 percent of GDP decline in energy subsidies in 2015. What is important next is to make sure that the decline in energy subsidies remains sustainable through the implementation of a new automatic fuel price formula, which is expected by the end of this year.

"The IMF envisions that key reforms in the banking sector—completion of the public bank recapitalization process, and adoption of key laws such as the banking and bankruptcy laws—as well as adoption of a tax package aimed at promoting greater equity, efficiency and simplification— are implemented by the end of 2015, which is when the current arrangement is set to expire.”

 Inner City Press asked the IMF, "what is the IMF's response to the argument by the Minority group in Ghana's Parliament for the IMF deal to placed before the legislature for review?"  Rice said the IMF leaves that up to the nation concerned, it's a matter of national legislation.

A new International Monetary Fund study, out from embargo on September 15, says that  "financial inclusion is mentioned under several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" and that "this year’s post-2015 Development Agenda squarely puts financial inclusion as a key objective for United Nations member countries."

  So how will real financial inclusion be addressed during the UN General Assembly ministerial week, from on September 28 with Presidents Obama of the US and Buhari of Nigeria, through Peru on September 29 and India on October 1?

  Inner City Press asked the IMF on September 3, and will be asking countries. Of the above named countries, the IMF report ("Financial Inclusion: Can It Meet Multiple Macroeconomic Goals?" by Ratna Sahay, Martin Cihák, Papa N’Diaye, Adolfo Barajas, Srobona Mitra, Annette Kyobe, Yen Nian Mooi, and Seyed Reza Yousefi) states

"Nigeria: The comprehensive Financial Inclusion Strategy in 2012 aims to reduce the exclusion rate from 46 percent of the adult population (in 2010) to 20 percent by 2020. Working across key
stakeholders, the strategy seeks to address five major barriers to financial inclusion: (1) income; (2) physical access; (3) financial literacy; (4) affordability; and (5) eligibility.

"Peru: e-money. The authorities have taken various measures to expand access and usage of financial services. In 2014 the “financial inclusion opportunities map,” an interactive tool, was launched. It promotes an innovative “Peruvian model” based on the 2012 electronic e-money legislation and a new unified mobile payments platform that links various providers of financial services with customers.

"India: the Reserve Bank of India’s long-standing policy on priority sector lending (PSL) requires banks to set aside 40 percent of their assets to priority sectors. Most public sector
banks meet this requirement, but end up with high nonperforming loans and concentrated credit risk.  Recently, the Pradhan
Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana [PMPDY], a financial inclusion initiative, was launched with the goal of opening a bank account for every household."

India's seems like a particularly illuminating approach, including to the US, of which the report states

"The United States: the recently completed Financial Sector
Assessment Program (FSAP) (IMF, 2015d) calls for financial inclusion to feature more prominently on the U.S. policy
agenda. The Global Findex survey ranks the United States 27th out of 147 countries in terms of the percentage of adults with a bank account in a formal financial institution, and a 2013 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) survey finds that 20 percent of U.S. households are 'underbanked' and 8 percent are 'unbanked.' More work is needed."

We, and NCRC, will have more on this.

  Back on September 3 when the International Monetary Fund resumed its biweekly embargoed media briefings, Inner City Press submitted four questions. Inner City Press asked:

"Who from the IMF is coming to the UN General Assembly (and SDGs, etc) week in late September, and what is their program? What meeting will they participate in? What do they hope to accomplish?"

IMF Deputy Spokesperson William Murray answered, as fast transcribed by InnerCityPro:

“Matthew, and others, the Managing Director is scheduled to attend the UNGA particularly the SDGs segment in late September. There was a previous meeting in Addis Ababa we participated in at a high level that dealt with the SDGs... The IMF's Executive Board recently endorsed a 50% increase in access to all the funds concessional lending facilities and to maintain a 0% rate for low income countries that struggle with disasters and conflict. The Executive Board of the Fund has endorsed IMF's engagement in sustainable inclusive growth, on which we'll be elaborating in the weeks and months to come.”

  One focus should be financial inclusion, on which we'll have more during UNGA week.

 In the meanwhile, Murray also said Managing Director Christine Lagarde is about to arrive in Ukraine for "opportunistic" meetings with the authorities, and an IMF mission team will go there on September 22.

  On September 3, Inner City Press also submitted questions about Nepal and Grenada, as well as this:

"In Indonesia the Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives Taufik Kurniawan recently said, 'We do not ask for IMF support in crisis;' at the UN in NY on Sept 2, the Vice Chairman of the House of Representatives of Indonesia H. Fadli Zon told Inner City Press much the same thing. What is the IMF's response to these criticisms or resistance to the IMF, from elected representatives of the country where the IMF now plans its 2018 Annual Meetings?"

  We hope to receive answers.

  Back on July 8 when the International Monetary Fund released reviews and papers about the United States, complete with support of the Dodd Frank Act and mentions of anti money laundering protection Inner City Press asked about the proposal to raise the definition of Systemically Important Financial Institution from $50 billion up to $500 billion and if tight AML strictures are to blame for cutting off remittances to Somalia.

  Aditya Narain, IMF mission chief for the Financial Sector Assessment Program and deputy director, Monetary and Capital Markets department, told Inner City Press that the IMF believes such definition should give predictability, but should be based on risk and not necessarily only asset size.

  Narain told Inner City Press, "On the first one, our general belief is that supervisory approaches should be risk based, and therefore the materiality and proportionality of institutions should be taken into account for to develop supervisory frameworks. At the same time, we also recognize that it’s important to have some clear rules, regarding a unit, in this case size of institutions, because not only does it set a baseline of expectations, but it also provides a useful framework for people to anchor their expectations on. So that’s why, in a sense we would agree that it’s important to make these approaches risk based and therefore not dependent on size alone. I should add also, that our only political ideology is financial stability, for the purpose of this exercise.

  But will this be used FOR the Senator Richard Shelby draft bill?

  On remittances, Aditya Narain said it is an important question but one that the IMF is dealing with in other venues; it apparently wasn't raised to the US during this process. Why not?

 Narain told Inner City Press, "On the regulatory question, this is an issue which is being discussed in several forums where the IMF has been participating, and this is an issue not just for the US, although it has been most discussed in the context of the US, but the effects of the AML on remittances and the result, the stringent adherence to standards has led to a concern more globally that might be affecting the flow of remittances to those jurisdictions... where such remittances and the channels through which they flow are more important. We have not discussed this... there is work ongoing in the Fund, including in collaboration with other institutions like the World Bank... and we expect to be able to have more information on this in a few months time."

   In the embargoed media conference call, two questions in a row went to the Financial Times, which opined that the IMF report takes the side of the Democratic Party. The IMF disagreed. The IMF said, in writing, “As the epicenter of the global financial crisis that began in 2008, the United States passed a major law in 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act, to reform its financial system. Officials need to complete the rulemaking under the law, while parts of reform agenda face legislative proposals to water them down.”

   Central Banking asked two questions and Reuters one, on federal insurance regulation.  Watch this site.

IMF Answers Inner City Press on Austerity in Jamaica, Audio Here, Not on Antigua / John Ashe Corruption Case

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 29 -- Amid complaints about the impact of International Monetary Fund programs, Inner City Press on October 29 asked IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice “in Jamaica, the National Democratic Movement has blamed the IMF for the country's 'health-care system becoming a national disgrace.' What is the IMF's response?”

  Rice during the IMF's embargoed briefing read out this question, audio here, and said he does not agree, that Jamaica's 2015-16 budget includes an increase for the Ministry of Health. Audio of full answer here.

  The IMF left unanswered, for now, Inner City Press' question about Antigua and Barbuda, below; there will be more about Dominica.

 The IMF, it seems, should be more responsive: the Gleaner for example opines that “in 2014, Jamaica paid $138 million more to the IMF than it received from it. We are constantly being told Jamaica passed the IMF test. Look at the punitive primary surplus imposed on Jamaica. At 7.5%, it is way above what is being asked of any other country in the IMF program. It is 4% for Cyprus, 3% for Ireland, 3% for Greece, 3% for Portugal and a puny 1% for Ukraine. One has to wonder why Jamaica is being treated this way.”

  Here are two other questions Inner City Press submitted on October 29, still without answer:

On Antigua & Barbuda, in light of recent comments by IMF Mission Chief Arnold McIntyre, what is the IMF's view of and comment on the information in the US FBI's charge sheet and indictment of Antigua's former ambassador (and former UN PGA) John Ashe, particularly with regard to corruption in the country?

In light of the UN Special Rapporteur's report on human rights (non) compliance by the World Bank, presented this week at the UN, please summarize how the IMF considers the human rights impacts on its decisions.

  We'll have more on this.

On September 17 amid the refugee crisis, Inner City Press asked IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice  "what does the IMF see as its role in the current refugee crisis, both some countries of arrival, and in the countries people are leaving?"

  Rice replied, in the televised briefing:

I want to take a question from our colleague [Inner City Press] because he’s asking about another issue that’s very much on our minds I think these days which is -- he’s asking what does the IMF see as its role in the current refugee crisis, both countries of arrival and countries where people are leaving. Well the first thing I’d say is obviously this is a massive humanitarian crisis. The concern first and foremost is for the people effected and the IMF shares that concern. The magnitude of the crisis is indeed extraordinary. As you know European political leaders are working together on the response and we believe managing the crisis will indeed require collective concerted action. On the implications which he was asking about, on the economic cost, on the fiscal dimensions, obviously the crisis is still evolving, so it’s too early for us to estimate specific fiscal impact. It’s going to be case by case in terms of countries, however past international experience with surges in immigration suggest the speed with which immigrants are integrated into the labor force is a crucial factor.

On the European dimension of this crisis there are many factors at play and it’s difficult to make again an economic assessment at this moment but we are working on it and we will be coming back to you in due course on this. I just want to finally mention that Europe is not the only region affected by this issue. Many countries in the Middle East and North Africa, for example, perhaps most notably Jordan and Lebanon have been hosting large numbers of refugees from conflict areas including Iraq and Syria and they have been shouldering heavy burdens in accommodating the refugees basic needs for multiple years now.

The IMF has been involved in this issue in terms of dialogue, in terms of urging the international community and most specifically in our programs where needed and where appropriate. We have been trying to create -- help countries create the fiscal space which is something that we can help them with specifically. Create the fiscal space to accommodate some of these large refugee issues. This was the case for example in Jordan recently."

We'll have more on this.

  Inner City Press also asked the IMF, "In Tunisia, Managing Director Lagarde was quoted that 'It is necessary to really work and to consider that these economic reforms are a priority, decisive.' Can you say if these reforms include ending or limited subsidies and tax increases on, for example, gasoline? What process and timeline does the IMF envision for Tunisia?"

  After the embargoed briefing ended, this was provided by IMF:

“These reforms include a sound banking system, a more efficient government and civil service, a fair and efficient tax system, investment-oriented public spending, a business environment more conducive to investor risk taking, and a modern social safety net are key to maintaining growth and creating jobs in Tunisia. On energy subsidy reforms, the decline in international oil prices led to a 1.6 percent of GDP decline in energy subsidies in 2015. What is important next is to make sure that the decline in energy subsidies remains sustainable through the implementation of a new automatic fuel price formula, which is expected by the end of this year.

"The IMF envisions that key reforms in the banking sector—completion of the public bank recapitalization process, and adoption of key laws such as the banking and bankruptcy laws—as well as adoption of a tax package aimed at promoting greater equity, efficiency and simplification— are implemented by the end of 2015, which is when the current arrangement is set to expire.”

 Inner City Press asked the IMF, "what is the IMF's response to the argument by the Minority group in Ghana's Parliament for the IMF deal to placed before the legislature for review?"  Rice said the IMF leaves that up to the nation concerned, it's a matter of national legislation.

A new International Monetary Fund study, out from embargo on September 15, says that  "financial inclusion is mentioned under several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" and that "this year’s post-2015 Development Agenda squarely puts financial inclusion as a key objective for United Nations member countries."

  So how will real financial inclusion be addressed during the UN General Assembly ministerial week, from on September 28 with Presidents Obama of the US and Buhari of Nigeria, through Peru on September 29 and India on October 1?

  Inner City Press asked the IMF on September 3, and will be asking countries. Of the above named countries, the IMF report ("Financial Inclusion: Can It Meet Multiple Macroeconomic Goals?" by Ratna Sahay, Martin Cihák, Papa N’Diaye, Adolfo Barajas, Srobona Mitra, Annette Kyobe, Yen Nian Mooi, and Seyed Reza Yousefi) states

"Nigeria: The comprehensive Financial Inclusion Strategy in 2012 aims to reduce the exclusion rate from 46 percent of the adult population (in 2010) to 20 percent by 2020. Working across key
stakeholders, the strategy seeks to address five major barriers to financial inclusion: (1) income; (2) physical access; (3) financial literacy; (4) affordability; and (5) eligibility.

"Peru: e-money. The authorities have taken various measures to expand access and usage of financial services. In 2014 the “financial inclusion opportunities map,” an interactive tool, was launched. It promotes an innovative “Peruvian model” based on the 2012 electronic e-money legislation and a new unified mobile payments platform that links various providers of financial services with customers.

"India: the Reserve Bank of India’s long-standing policy on priority sector lending (PSL) requires banks to set aside 40 percent of their assets to priority sectors. Most public sector
banks meet this requirement, but end up with high nonperforming loans and concentrated credit risk.  Recently, the Pradhan
Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana [PMPDY], a financial inclusion initiative, was launched with the goal of opening a bank account for every household."

India's seems like a particularly illuminating approach, including to the US, of which the report states

"The United States: the recently completed Financial Sector
Assessment Program (FSAP) (IMF, 2015d) calls for financial inclusion to feature more prominently on the U.S. policy
agenda. The Global Findex survey ranks the United States 27th out of 147 countries in terms of the percentage of adults with a bank account in a formal financial institution, and a 2013 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) survey finds that 20 percent of U.S. households are 'underbanked' and 8 percent are 'unbanked.' More work is needed."

We, and NCRC, will have more on this.

  Back on September 3 when the International Monetary Fund resumed its biweekly embargoed media briefings, Inner City Press submitted four questions. Inner City Press asked:

"Who from the IMF is coming to the UN General Assembly (and SDGs, etc) week in late September, and what is their program? What meeting will they participate in? What do they hope to accomplish?"

IMF Deputy Spokesperson William Murray answered, as fast transcribed by InnerCityPro:

“Matthew, and others, the Managing Director is scheduled to attend the UNGA particularly the SDGs segment in late September. There was a previous meeting in Addis Ababa we participated in at a high level that dealt with the SDGs... The IMF's Executive Board recently endorsed a 50% increase in access to all the funds concessional lending facilities and to maintain a 0% rate for low income countries that struggle with disasters and conflict. The Executive Board of the Fund has endorsed IMF's engagement in sustainable inclusive growth, on which we'll be elaborating in the weeks and months to come.”

  One focus should be financial inclusion, on which we'll have more during UNGA week.

 In the meanwhile, Murray also said Managing Director Christine Lagarde is about to arrive in Ukraine for "opportunistic" meetings with the authorities, and an IMF mission team will go there on September 22.

  On September 3, Inner City Press also submitted questions about Nepal and Grenada, as well as this:

"In Indonesia the Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives Taufik Kurniawan recently said, 'We do not ask for IMF support in crisis;' at the UN in NY on Sept 2, the Vice Chairman of the House of Representatives of Indonesia H. Fadli Zon told Inner City Press much the same thing. What is the IMF's response to these criticisms or resistance to the IMF, from elected representatives of the country where the IMF now plans its 2018 Annual Meetings?"

  We hope to receive answers.

  Back on July 8 when the International Monetary Fund released reviews and papers about the United States, complete with support of the Dodd Frank Act and mentions of anti money laundering protection Inner City Press asked about the proposal to raise the definition of Systemically Important Financial Institution from $50 billion up to $500 billion and if tight AML strictures are to blame for cutting off remittances to Somalia.

  Aditya Narain, IMF mission chief for the Financial Sector Assessment Program and deputy director, Monetary and Capital Markets department, told Inner City Press that the IMF believes such definition should give predictability, but should be based on risk and not necessarily only asset size.

  Narain told Inner City Press, "On the first one, our general belief is that supervisory approaches should be risk based, and therefore the materiality and proportionality of institutions should be taken into account for to develop supervisory frameworks. At the same time, we also recognize that it’s important to have some clear rules, regarding a unit, in this case size of institutions, because not only does it set a baseline of expectations, but it also provides a useful framework for people to anchor their expectations on. So that’s why, in a sense we would agree that it’s important to make these approaches risk based and therefore not dependent on size alone. I should add also, that our only political ideology is financial stability, for the purpose of this exercise.

  But will this be used FOR the Senator Richard Shelby draft bill?

  On remittances, Aditya Narain said it is an important question but one that the IMF is dealing with in other venues; it apparently wasn't raised to the US during this process. Why not?

 Narain told Inner City Press, "On the regulatory question, this is an issue which is being discussed in several forums where the IMF has been participating, and this is an issue not just for the US, although it has been most discussed in the context of the US, but the effects of the AML on remittances and the result, the stringent adherence to standards has led to a concern more globally that might be affecting the flow of remittances to those jurisdictions... where such remittances and the channels through which they flow are more important. We have not discussed this... there is work ongoing in the Fund, including in collaboration with other institutions like the World Bank... and we expect to be able to have more information on this in a few months time."

   In the embargoed media conference call, two questions in a row went to the Financial Times, which opined that the IMF report takes the side of the Democratic Party. The IMF disagreed. The IMF said, in writing, “As the epicenter of the global financial crisis that began in 2008, the United States passed a major law in 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act, to reform its financial system. Officials need to complete the rulemaking under the law, while parts of reform agenda face legislative proposals to water them down.”

   Central Banking asked two questions and Reuters one, on federal insurance regulation.  Watch this site.

IMF Rebuffs Stanford Victims on Antigua Despite Iceland, and Romania, Ukraine and UN

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/imf1stanford120309.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 3 -- As the victims of the Stanford scam petition the U.S. Congress to stop the flow of any funds from the International Monetary Fund to Stanford's home base of Antigua and Barbuda, the IMF says such considerations play no role in its decisions.

On December 3, Inner City Press asked the IMF since, "there is a proposal in the U.S. Senate seeking to block IMF funds to Antigua until the victims of the Stanford scandal are compensated. Given the IMF's recent actions on Iceland, does the IMF acknowledge any link in Antigua between IMF funds and the compensation of banks' victims?"

IMF spokesperson Jennifer Beckman responded that "it isn’t part of the IMF’s mandate to help private parties in their claims against our member governments."

But in Iceland, the IMF held back its loan or stand by arrangement until the victims, in the UK and the Netherlands, of Icesave were made whole. The IMF is inconsistent, and refuses to forthrightly explain its policies.

Every two weeks, the IMF is supposed to hold a press briefing including online participation by accredited media like Inner City Press. There are been technical snafus, but those on December 3 reached a new low.

Inner City Press, with three or four questions to ask, logged in to the password protected IMF Media Briefing Center before the 9:30 a.m. start of the briefing. But the screen remained dark. This was no out of the normal, as Spokesperson Caroline Atkinson has several times started late.

At 9:58 a.m.., thinking that the briefing may have been delayed or canceled, Inner City Press called the IMF. The answer was that the briefing would be "rebroadcast" later in the day. But what about online participation by accredited media?

There have been technical issues, Inner City Press was told, and was advised to submit its questions in writing, they would be answered. At 10:04 a.m., Inner City Press submitted its questions, to Ms. Atkinson and the general inbox, with a cover note that

for some reason, the Webcast of this morning's IMF briefing didn't work. I waited, thinking the briefing was delayed as sometimes happens. Just now I called the IMF and was told there was a "technical issue," that the briefing would be re-broadcast. When I said I had questions to ask, I was told to send them here and they will be answered. Here they are, I am writing on these topics today:

There is a proposal in the U.S. Senate seeking to block IMF funds to Antigua until the victims of the Stanford scandal are compensated. Given the IMF's recent actions on Iceland, does the IMF acknowledge any link in Antigua between IMF funds and the compensation of banks' victims?

In Romania, the party of the presidential frontrunner has come out against what it calls IMF imposed layoffs in the public sector. Will the IMF confirm it is urging such layoffs, if so how many, and what ramifications if they are not implemented?

Yesterday 2 UN experts told the Press the IMF's Flexible Credit Line discriminates against poorer countries, & that rather than moving beyond conditionality, IMF simply imposes conditions later. Video here.

What is the IMF's response? And to allegation that health crisis in Ukraine is due to IMF imposed cuts? On deadline.

Even twelve hours after these four questions were submitted, the IMF had answered only one of them.

Subj: On Antigua
From: JBeckman@imf.org
To: Innnr City Press
Sent: 12/3/2009 11:11:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time

Although we are concerned about the Stanford Victims Coalition, it isn’t part of the IMF’s mandate to help private parties in their claims against our member governments.

What about the other answers? Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/imf1stanford120309.html