Walkingstick: Mnuchin says he opposes IMF special issuance of SDRs

By Greg Robb

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday said he opposes a call to have the International Monetary Fund make a special allocation Special Drawing Rights (SDR). Former British prime minister Gordon Brown and many economists have urged the IMF to allocate the SDRs that was last done in 2009 during the financial crisis.

Although the SDRs are not currency, they can be used by emerging and developing countries to bolster their reserves. In an address at the IMF Spring Meetings, Mnuchin argued the SDR allocation “is not an effective tool.” He noted almost 70% of the allocation would be provided to relatively well-off G-20 countries and low income countries would receive just 3%.

Reuters reported the White House opposes the allocation because China and Iran would receive billions of dollars with no strings attached.  LINK

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Walkingstick:  International Monetary: Approval of the postponement of the payment of debt installments of 25 countries

09:45 – 16/04/2020

The International Monetary Fund Board agreed to suspend debt service payments to 25 member states, including two Arab countries, to help these countries to face the repercussions of the emergence of the emerging Corona virus. The fund said that it was agreed to suspend the debt service for these countries for a period of 6 months as an initial stage, provided that it takes a similar decision regarding at least 4 other countries.

The list of countries benefiting from this decision included two Arab countries, Yemen and Comoros, along with Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Tajikistan, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Pisa, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nepal, Rwanda, Sotome, Principe, Sierra Leone and Togo. Earlier, the fund said that deferring payments would cost 213 million dollars, which would be paid from a special account set up by the fund.

The fund’s management announced a fundraising campaign that would allow loan payments to the poorest countries to be deferred for two years. According to the fund, the suspension of debt payments will allow the poorest countries to channel these resources to vital emergency supplies. On Wednesday, G20 finance ministers agreed on a coordinated approach to suspending debt service payments due to poor countries from May 1 to the end of this year.

After not including the exemptions .. Iraq is heading to the International Monetary Fund to suspend the payment of debts

(SNIPPER)

The economic and financial advisor to the Prime Minister confirmed the appearance of Saleh that there is a government move to stop foreign debt deductions.

Saleh said in a press statement that was monitored by “Iraq Iraq”, that “Iraq seeks to stop the payment of its external debt due to its entry into the so-called” force majeure “, in light of the declining revenues due to the decline in oil prices, something that affected all the countries of the world.”

And Saleh explained that “the International Monetary Fund will have a positive role towards Iraq by deferring debts or simplifying procedures, which is a possibility, but it needs high diplomacy.”

The International Monetary Fund agreed earlier to exempt and suspend the payment of debts to 25 countries, not including Iraq. LINK

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Don961:  Abdel-Mahdi and Halbousi preside over a joint meeting to discuss economic conditions

Thursday, April 16, 2020 – 15:29
Baghdad – conscious

A joint meeting was held today, Thursday, at the Government Palace, headed by
Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and Speaker of Parliament Muhammad
Al-Halbousi, to discuss the financial and economic situation and
government spending in light of the decline in global oil prices and the decline in
demand for it and the Corona pandemic and financial budget entitlements, and
to discuss proposed plans, procedures and solutions to confront these the crisis
faced by Iraq and all countries of the world.

The media office of the Prime Minister stated, in a statement
received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that “the meeting
was attended by Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, Speaker
of Parliament Muhammad Al-Halbousi, First Deputy Hassan
Al-Kaabi, Deputy Prime Ministers, Oil and Finance Ministers,
Minister of Planning and Heads of Financial, Economic and
Energy Committees in the Council Representatives, the
governor of the Central Bank and a number of deputy
ministers and advisers.

He added that “the Presidents of the House of Representatives and the
Ministers presented their views of the economic and social
reality and the necessary solutions, foremost of which is the
necessity of maximizing state resources, reducing dependence on oil, protecting
the weaker social classes and achieving societal, food and medicinal security,
and emphasized cooperation between the executive and legislative authorities
and the continuation of meetings and consultation between the relevant
committees to reach
The best solutions and procedures that meet the needs of
citizens and achieve social justice and the supreme interest of
the country.

He continued, “A detailed explanation was presented by the Minister of Oil on the position of
Iraq on the decline in oil prices and determination of the shares of all producing countries
during the last OPEC meeting.

The Minister of Finance presented the financial
situation, revenues,expenditures and financial budget requirements,
and the Minister of Planningand the heads of the parliamentary
committees presented a number ofproposals And economic treatments. “   link