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IMF sees 200 billion euro capital gap at European banks
BRUSSELS — The International Monetary Fund has estimated European banks could face a capital shortfall of 200 billion euros (US$287 billion), a European source said on Wednesday.
The figure has prompted a fierce response from European officials who said the analysis was misleading, according to the Financial Times.
The newspaper, citing two officials, said the 200 billion euro figure was one estimate of the impact of marking sovereign bonds to market.
The IMF will Read more…
UN wants new global currency to replace dollar
The dollar should be replaced with a global currency, the United Nations has said, proposing the biggest overhaul of the world’s monetary system since the Second World War.
In a radical report, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said the system of currencies and capital rules which binds the world economy is not working properly, and was largely responsible for the financial and economic crises.
It added that the present system, under which the dollar acts as the world’s reserve currency , should be subject to a wholesale reconsideration.
Although a number of countries, including China and Russia, have suggested replacing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, the UNCTAD report is the first time a major multinational institution has posited such a suggestion.
In essence, the report calls for Read more…
Central Banks Continue Buying Gold To Diversify Portfolios
Gold purchases by South Korea and Thailand this summer continue a trend in which central banks are net purchasers of the metal as they look to diversify their foreign-exchange reserves.
“So far in 2011, central banks in the emerging markets have already bought more than double the gold they bought in all of 2010, and we’ve got almost five months to go for the rest of the year,” said Jeff Clark, senior precious-metals analyst with Casey Research.
This buying has occurred despite historically high prices. “So apparently, central banks don’t regard the gold price as too high,” Clark said.
For the year to date, net purchases by the world’s central banks are 203.5 metric tons, which already is a 168% increase from 76 tons for all of 2010, said Natalie Dempster, director, government affairs, with the World Gold Council.
Most of the data is gleamed international financial statistics released by the International Monetary Fund at the beginning of each month. Additionally, some central banks—such as Read more…
IMF chief calls on US to raise borrowing limit
WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund’s new chief foresees “real nasty consequences” for the U.S. and global economies if the U.S. fails to raise its borrowing limit.
Christine Lagarde, the first woman to head the lending institution, said in an interview broadcast Sunday that it would cause interest rates to rise and stock markets to fall. That would threaten an important IMF goal, which is preserving stability in the world economy, she said.
The U.S. borrowing limit is $14.3 trillion. Obama administration officials say the U.S. would begin to default without an agreement by Aug. 2.
“If you draw out the entire scenario of Read more…
Bilderbergers May Give Green Light to Mexican Central Banker as New IMF Boss
Business Report today reports that Mexican central banker Agustín Carstens will be the next boss at the International Monetary Fund.
Earlier today, Prison Planet.com editor and lead journalist Paul Joseph Watson reported via video that the new IMF head would be decided this week at the Bilderberg confab.
The Latin America News Dispatch announced Carstens bid on May 25.
According to news reports, a dozen Latin American countries support the appointment of Carstens to head up the globalist loan sharking operation. The countries are 
Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela.
The nations, a statement said, are convinced “of the need to promote greater participation of emerging economies in the region” in selecting the replacement of Dominique Strauss-Kahn as head of the world finance body.
Strauss-Kahn stepped down from the position after it was alleged he attempted to rape a hotel maid. Some believe Strauss-Kahn was set-up in order to remove him from the IMF.
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has also been mentioned as a possible replacement. Both Carstens and Lagarde have embarked on tours to promote their bids.
Agustín Carstens is a top-level insider. He is a Mexican economist who has held high-level positions at the Banco de México, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Bank of International Settlements.
As an economist, he has advocated an orthodox neoliberal economic approach to the third world and so-called “emerging economies.”
What You Need to Know About the International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is in the news again for scandals of a more personal and dubious type—the arrest of fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn over allegations of sexual assault. This comes at a time when the IMF can least afford to be embroiled in political scandals—the global recovery is tenable at best, and the combination of rising prices, declining credit, and falling faith in fiat currencies is becoming a cocktail for disaster. But this does give us a great opportunity to help people understand what the IMF does, who pays for it, and how it works.
What the Heck is it?
Most people in the world couldn’t describe what the IMF does; yet if your country is one of the 187 member countries, you have paid for it. ABC World News says this:
And what do they do with all that fiat currency? To answer that, we need a little history lesson.
The IMF was founded after World War II during the beginning of the Bretton Woods system. In the Bretton Woods system, exchange rates were Read more…
EU Ministers OK $110.8 Billion Portugal Rescue
European Union finance ministers cleared the way for Portugal to receive 78 billion euros ($110.8 billion) in aid, making it the third euro-area country to fall back on official loans.
The EU’s two bailout funds, the European Financial Stability Facility and European Financial Stabilization Mechanism, will each provide one-third of the assistance, while the International Monetary Fund will contribute the rest, the EU said in a statement after a unanimous vote in Brussels today.
Finance ministers called Portugal’s planned budget cuts “ambitious but credible,” according to the statement. The aid program will run for three years.
Portugal follows Greece and Ireland in requesting a bailout from the EU and International Monetary Fund. Politicians are struggling to convince investors that 256 billion euros in aid to the three countries will be enough to stamp out Europe’s debt crisis and prevent the euro region’s first restructuring.
Portuguese Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said before the meeting he was confident of approval because “all the issues that we had to clarify were clarified.” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had also been upbeat about Portugal’s aid request.
The meeting was clouded by the May 14 arrest of IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Read more…
United States to hit debt ceiling on Monday
WASHINGTON — The debt-laden US government’s credit card will hit its limit Monday, creating a cash crunch that puts the country’s credit standing at risk as politicians battle over its long-term deficit.
Reaching the $14.29 trillion ceiling set by Congress will not have an immediate impact on government finances, because the Treasury has found about ten weeks of wiggle-room in short-term adjustments and an unexpected April jump in tax revenues.
But with Republicans refusing to increase the ceiling without massive future spending cuts, the longer the fight over bridging the country’s deficit goes on, the higher the stakes will get.
If nothing is done by about August 2, there is a chance the United States, which has always merited a top-grade credit rating, could do the unthinkable — default on its debt payments.
Few think it will get that far, as the White House leads behind-the-scenes talks on a grand strategy on the deficit — with Republicans insisting on spending cuts and Democrats demanding tax increases as well.
Still, some liken the fight to a game of chicken being played with the country’s credit standing at Read more…
Why Is the U.S. Bankrolling IMF’s Bailouts in Europe?
humanevents
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund held their spring meeting April 14 to 18 in Washington, D.C. Both financial titans were created after World War II to foster economic cooperation and development around the globe. With 16.2% of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shares, the United States is the largest shareholder among the 187 nations who belong to the fund—even though its managing director has always been a European.
Remote to most Americans, the IMF has been in the headlines recently because of its role as one of the financial rescuers of three European nations whose economies collapsed last year. Under Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn (the former French finance minister, who is considered the leading Socialist candidate for president of France in 2012), the IMF has joined with the European Union to sculpt bailout packages for Greece, Ireland, and Portugal. Coupled with loans from the EU, the price tags on the bailout packages come to $157 billion for Greece, $122 billion for Ireland, and most recently, $116 billion for Portugal.
Obviously, these are quite substantial packages for the three economically devastated countries. They will become very relevant to U.S. taxpayers when they realize that, because we are the largest single contributor to the organization, and with Spain and Italy now Read more…
World Bank president: ‘One shock away from crisis’
The president of the World Bank has warned that the world is “one shock away from a full-blown crisis”.
Robert Zoellick cited rising food prices as the main threat to poor nations who risk “losing a generation”.
He was speaking in Washington at the end of the spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Meanwhile, G20 finance chiefs, who also met in Washington, pledged financial support to help new governments in the Middle East and North Read more…
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