Thursday, March 6, 2014

Exclusive: Russia wants IMF to move ahead on reforms without U.S. - sources - Yahoo Finance

Exclusive: Russia wants IMF to move ahead on reforms without U.S. - sources - Yahoo Finance

1 comment:

  1. ...... "It was agreed that in the absence of progress by the United States on the 2010 package by the April meeting of the IMF and G20, that there will be formulated a list of 'bad options,' which will allow to move forward in this matter, excluding the opinions of the United States," the third source said.

    For a year, the Obama administration has been trying to get Congress to approve a shift of some $63 billion from an IMF crisis fund to its general accounts in order to make good on its 2010 commitment.

    The U.S. Treasury is now seeking to attach the funding to a financial aid package for Ukraine that is under consideration in Congress. It argues the reforms would allow crisis-hit countries like Ukraine to borrow more money from the IMF.

    "It is imperative that we secure passage of IMF legislation now so we can show support for the IMF in this critical moment and preserve our leading influential voice in the institution," Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told lawmakers on Thursday during a hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives.

    The Ukraine bill may be the administration's best chance of passing the IMF funding shift this year, analysts say.

    But a senior House Republican aide said on Wednesday that the House assistance package for Ukraine would not include IMF funding. The Senate said it was still deciding whether to include the IMF in its version of the bill.

    (Reporting by Anna Yukhananov in Washington and Lidia Kelly in Moscow, additional reporting by Jason Lange in Washington)

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