Tag Archives: IMF
Pakistan borrows from IMF to maintain debt obligation
The International Monetary Fund’s board approved a $6.7 billion loan package for Pakistan on Wednesday. In a statement, the monetary fund said the three-year loan program should help Pakistan rebuild its reserves and prevent a crisis in its balance of payments. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/world/asia/imf-approves-6-7-billion-loan-for-pakistan.html?ref=world Loans from the monetary fund generally come with conditions for economic changes and […]
Central banks threaten to crash economy over EU labor costs
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), a group representing central banks including the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, on Sunday warned European political leaders that they should not expect central banks’ cheap-money policy to hold the global economy together forever. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/24/business/global/central-banks-criticize-europe-for-political-gridlock-on-economy.html?hp The B.I.S. report avoided singling out individual countries, but it was clear […]
Two countries left for Coca-Cola and capitalism to conquer
Coca-Cola has opened a bottling plant in Burma – the first time it has had a production facility there for more than 60 years. The world’s largest soft-drink maker is one of the first US firms to invest in Burma following Washington’s decision to suspend sanctions against the country. There are now only two countries where […]
Austerity forces privatization
Greece agreed to change some terms in the planned privatisation of natural gas distributor DEPA, opening the way for Russian energy giant Gazprom to bid for the firm http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/05/25/business/25reuters-greece-privatisations-gazprom.html?hp&_r=0 “The guarantee was halved to 10 percent of the purchase price,” Privatisation agency HRADF finalised the terms of the sale contract late on Friday, lowering the […]
IMF head accused of financial misdealing
Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, will soon learn if she must face a full criminal investigation over her role in a contentious financial deal that dates back to her time as French finance minister. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/business/global/lagarde-to-appear-in-french-court.html Ms. Lagarde, Nicolas Sarkozy’s finance minister from 2007 to 2011, allowed a court case to go […]
Google to pay little taxes to UK
Google paid only £6 million in corporate taxes in Britain in 2011, despite generating more than £3 billion in revenue there. Google, which reduces its tax bill in Britain and other European countries by routing sales via Ireland, where corporate taxes are lower, insists that the practice is perfectly legal. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/eric-schmidt-of-google-to-meet-with-british-prime-minister/?ref=technology http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/google-buys-a-quantum-computer/?ref=technology
Julian Assange: Why Wikileaks
“Let me first frame this. I looked at something that I had seen going on with the world. Which is that I thought there were too many unjust acts. And I wanted there to be more just acts, and fewer unjust acts. http://wikileaks.org/Transcript-Meeting-Assange-Schmidt?nocache And one can sort of say, well what are your philosophical axioms […]
israeli voters get the Bait & Switch on austerity
The Israeli government approved a two-year austerity budget early Tuesday that would cut spending and raise taxes, outraging many Israelis who voted in a new government this year after promises of economic relief. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/world/middleeast/after-citizen-protests-israel-approves-austerity-budget.html?ref=world 12,000 Israelis took to the streets Saturday night in a show of anger reminiscent of the vast social protests that rocked […]
Bolvia accuses US of subversion
President Evo Morales expelled the United States Agency for International Development from Bolivia on Wednesday, suggesting that it had conspired against his leftist government. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/world/americas/bolivian-president-expels-us-aid-agency.html?ref=world&_r=0 “Some institutions of the United States Embassy continue to conspire against this process, against the people and especially against the country,” Mr. Morales said. As a result, he said, “We […]
Destroying the poor with austerity
A general strike against tough austerity measures is under way in Greece, with trade unions calling for “mass mobilisation” of protesters. The organisers are demanding an end to spending cuts and tax rises. “They have gone deaf over there [in parliment] and if we do not continue this fight, soon they will destroy us,” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22362757 Government […]
IMF more powerful than EU countries
The I.M.F. has more say over crisis management than many euro zone members, and Christine Lagarde, the managing director, has become a quasi head of state, whose views carry more weight than those of many elected leaders. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/business/global/euro-zone-crisis-has-increased-imfs-power.html?ref=world More than half of the I.M.F.’s lending goes to the euro zone. Poorer nations that contribute to […]
Cypriot depositors to lose 60-75%
Savers at the Bank of Cyprus may be forced to accept losses on their deposits that exceed 60 percent in order to keep the stricken bank afloat. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/30/business/global/some-savers-in-cyprus-may-lose-60-percent.html?hp The more sizable haircut, coming soon after the imposition of tough capital controls, is the latest and perhaps most profound reminder of the financial punishment being visited […]
Austerity seizes depositor accounts
European officials in Brussels required that part of a new €10 billion bailout be paid for directly from the bank accounts of ordinary savers. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/business/global/facing-bailout-tax-cypriots-rush-to-get-their-money-out-of-banks.html?ref=world A move that could set off new fears of contagion across the euro zone as anxious depositors drained cash from automated teller machines in Cyprus over the weekend. “This is […]
Dirty Babylon 