IMFC cancels $USD55B debt for poorest countries and makes pointed comments about the U.S.

an historic announcement...

Press Conference on the 2005 Annual Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee with Gordon Brown, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer and Chairman of the IMFC, and Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
September 24, 2005
Washington, DC

MR. BROWN: Faced today with the needless tragedy of poverty through the burden of unpayable debt in the world's poorest countries, the world has come together and, with a significant decision we have made today, we have endorsed proposals that will eventually end up with the World Bank, the IMF, and other development banks writing off up to US$55 billion of debt and, in this way, helping the poorest countries of the world.

the imfc had some pointed comments about the u.s...

MR. de RATO: [T]he U.S. has to address its fiscal imbalances in a structural manner, not only by the increase in revenues that can be more tied to the cycle, but also in a way that will guarantee that the U.S. will be able to face some of the medium-term challenges regarding aging and health that we envision. As I said this morning in my speech to the Governors, the U.S. has certainly decreased the fiscal budget this year with a very important rebound in revenues. Nevertheless, going forward, and to achieve a substantial reduction of the deficit, we think that the strategy to reduce expenditures quite ambitious even before the new needs derived from the natural disasters that have affected the country. So, we see the need for increased revenue through tax reform that will increase the tax base...

cutting through the economist-speak: the u.s. has to figure out how to get more coming in than is going out...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet