-Caveat Lector- By JANET GUTTSMAN WASHINGTON (January 27, 1999 9:43 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - The International Monetary Fund make more adjustments to the changing global economy even though the lending body, under U.S. pressure, has already embraced many changes, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said on Wednesday. Summers told a Senate panel that the IMF, which put together rescue deals worth tens of billions of dollars in Asia, Russia and Brazil, needed to be more accountable to its members and more open in its dealings. The IMF's programs needed to take into account social issues and the private sector should meet some of the cost, Summers added. "The global economy has changed greatly in recent years, and the IMF has to change with it," Summers told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee. The secretive IMF was thrust into the limelight over the last 18 months as countries in Asia and beyond sought cash to help solve a raft of economic problems. But the multibillion-dollar rescue deals drained IMF resources and Congress, approving new funds last year after a long delay, linked the extra cash to demands for change. "Congress ... affirmed its commitment to a much more reformed, much more effective IMF," Summers said. "This is a commitment that the (Clinton) administration wholeheartedly shares and we are extremely focused on working to achieve." Summers, long a defender of the IMF, said the crises in Asia and elsewhere would have been deeper without the IMF. "The costs of these crises would have been even higher and the impact on our own economy and markets much more severe" had the IMF not acted, he said. Summers said steps were under way to make the IMF more open. Internal staff evaluations of IMF programs were being published, along with details of countries' promises to the lending institution. Reporting to Congress was being expanded to include a Treasury Secretary report to congressional committees on any IMF lending supported by the Exchange Stabilization Fund. The stabilization fund, which falls under Treasury's control, has been an irritant to congressional Republicans because the administration has been able to tap it without seeking congressional approval. IMF First Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer had been scheduled to brief the Senate panel in a rare appearance that panel Chairman Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, described as "the first appearance of a senior IMF officer before a congressional committee in open session." But Fischer told Hagel in a letter that he was too busy dealing with Brazil's financial crisis to testify. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ <Picture> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Global | Nation | Sports | Politics | Opinions | Business | Techserver | Health & Science | Entertainment | Weather | Baseball | Basketball | Football | Hockey | Sport Server | MAIN ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Do you have some feedback for the Nando Times staff? DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
