Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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 Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:46 am Post subject: US hits back over 'questionable' IMF comments |
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Funny.. IMF has a lot of valid points though..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060419/pl_afp/imfeconomygrowth_060419205833
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WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US government issued a barbed riposte after the IMF suggested Washington institute health insurance for all Americans and balance its budget faster than planned.
Tim Adams, the Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, demanded that the International Monetary Fund get back to its "raison d'etre" of monitoring global currency rates rather than commenting on health care.
He also said an IMF call for the United States to balance its budget by 2010, rather than just aiming to halve it by 2009, would put the global economy in "peril".
"We have been the product of IMF scrutiny for a long time. They don't mince any words or waste any time talking about the US," Adams told a news conference after the IMF released its semi-annual World Economic Outlook.
"In fact it appears ... that they were once again delving into issues that are questionable topics for the IMF to be looking at," he said.
"But if it's good enough for the US, it's good enough for everyone else, and we look forward to seeing what the IMF is producing for other countries," he said, reaffirming calls for the IMF to criticize China more forcefully.
Speaking at the launch of the Outlook report, IMF chief economist Raghuram Rajan said earlier Wednesday that the United States was not always the poster child for the policies long advocated by the Fund.
"In a globally competitive economy, it is very important you insure the individual, you have a safety net for the individual, because they're at serious risk of losing their job and so on," Rajan said.
"Which means you have to have some form of universal health care. It is very, very hard, in this competitive economy, for 40-million-plus Americans to be uninsured, of which eight million are children," he said.
"So you need universal health care, you need strong educational systems, so the challenge of improving education in the United States, especially in poorer areas, is extremely important."
Adams retorted: "I don't really think that's the purview of the IMF. This is an institution that really needs to get focussed, and needs to get focussed on its mission and its core expertise.
"We think that core expertise should start with foreign exchange surveillance and if universal health care is something they want to (get into) that's fine. But I think it's not at top of their agenda."
In its twice-yearly report, the IMF also criticized President George W. Bush's plan to halve the surging US budget deficit by 2009 as "unambitious".
It called for full balance a year earlier, to get US finances in shape for rising medical and pensions costs.
Adams said the deficit was in line with "historical norms" and with the deficits of other big industrialised economies. Taking more drastic action as demanded by the IMF "puts global growth at peril", he said.
"We would just hope they would apply that same kind of energy with other aspects of the agenda, including foreign exchange surveillance," the US official added.
A key concern identified in the IMF report was imbalances in the global economy, as the US current account deficit swells to record levels while China and oil-exporting nations run up huge surpluses.
Adams said the United States takes the problem "very, very seriously", but that Europe and Japan can help by stepping up reforms to boost their growth rates, while China should relax its currency regime more.
"Unfortunately I think thus far we have not had the kind of robust conversation and discussion we really need to have," he said, expressing hope for debate on the imbalances at weekend meetings of the IMF and World Bank |
Scariest part.. US has record deficits.. and China and oil-exporting nations run up huge surpluses. |
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