Monday 19 December 2011

EU Ministers statement on IMF resources

Via 'spiked' and here, this has just been published:
"EU Finance Ministers statement on IMF resources
19 December 2011
EU Member States support a substantial increase in the IMF's resources. These resources will enhance the IMF's capacity to fulfill its systemic responsibilities in support of its global membership, which is especially important given the ongoing economic slowdown and financial market tensions. The IMF’s involvement will be based on normal IMF conditionality.
The EU, and in particular Euro area Member States are fully aware of their special responsibility in the current circumstances. Therefore, on 9 December, euro area Member States have committed to enhanced governance to foster fiscal discipline and deeper integration in the internal market as well as stronger growth, enhanced competitiveness and social cohesion.
Ministers confirmed today that, as part of a broader international effort to improve the adequacy of IMF resources, euro area Member States will provide EUR 150 billion of additional resources through bilateral loans to the Fund's General Resources Account.Burden-sharing among euro area Member States will be based on quota shares resulting from the 2010 quota reform.
The Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, and Sweden indicated their willingness to take part in the process of reinforcing IMF resources. The United Kingdom has indicated that it will define its contribution early in the new year in the framework of the G20.
For some Member States, commitments will be subject to parliamentary approval.
The EU will also work expeditiously to implement in full the 2010 quota and governance reform of the IMF.
The EU would welcome G20 members and other financially strong IMF members to support the efforts to safeguard global financial stability by contributing to the increase in IMF resources so as to fill global financing gaps." (my emphasis)
It is hoped readers will forgive what may appear to be xenophobia, or nationalism, but:

So the leaders of some European countries, having screwed up their continent economically, now ask the world to save them. Forgive me, but didn't the leaders of some European countries screw up their continent militarily, about 70+ years ago, for the same empirical aims? So the UK has to join with others to save them - again? To paraphrase: when will they ever learn? More importantly - and perhaps selfishly - when will our politicians learn?

I stand to be corrected, however it appears there are only three 'avenues' by which the eurozone can be 'saved'. One is through the EFSF, which is an avenue not being used this time; the European Central Bank (ECB), which doesn't have the required funds; or the IMF, which providing it can raise the funds, would have. Whether Britain would contribute, via the G20, is the intriguing question and it seems to me that Cameron and Osborne, who have been stating that survival of the eurozone is paramount to our country's well-being, may well use this 'avenue of last resort' in order to appear to be 'good Europeans', thus 'saving face' following their 'belligerence' during 'Events Bruxelles' of 8/9th December - and thus 'getting their feet back under the table'.*

We shall see what transpires.................**

* Of course, if we had 'Referism' and 'Direct Democracy' any payment by our country to another would not be the decision of politicians!

** If I'm proved wrong in my belief that we eventually do contribute via the IMF, then needless to say I shall don sackcloth and ashes, pleading many 'mea culpas' in the process.


 

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll have to moderate my language.

Here's the scenario......

Borrow billions more, in a puny attempt to 'adrenalize' a corpse which [as I write] is decaying to dust - it doesn't get any more stupid than that does it??

Just who is kidding who here?

So, in response to the 'proposed' and no doubt compulsory extra [via the IMF - whatever] borrowing by EU member states [many if not all of which - are brassic] to prop up/ to save a dead duck [euro-zone].

I would have to say vehemently [may I be so bold].......

It would have to be something like this;
"fork off smartly" to you braindead five knuckle shufflers [commissars of Brussels]!

And,

"we'll take the quickest route out of this God forsaken Communist blox-cess-pit!"

Finally,

"Stick your plan [at once swivelling and very energetically] up that place, where the sun don't shine, Otto and Claudette".

cosmic said...

Blackmail.

If you don't send me a tenner, I'll top myself, then you'll be sorry.

If you do send me a tenner, give it a fortnight then -

If you don't send me £20, I'll top myself, then you'll be sorry and you definitely won't see that tenner again.

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EPcWHBPYOSU#!

Weekend Yachtsman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Weekend Yachtsman said...

"The United Kingdom has indicated that it will define its contribution early in the new year in the framework of the G20."

So how did migrate into the MSM and become "Osbourne says UK won't contribute to this"?

Did they miss off the words "right now" somehow?

I'm with you on this, WW, I reckon Cameron and Osbourne (no doubt prodded behind the scenes by the vile traitor Clegg) are waiting for the G20 before they roll over and surrender, hoping that by then most people will be back to concentrating on Strictly, or The Archers, or Masterchef, or the Six Nations*, or something, and nobody will notice.


* How long before it gets renamed "the Six Former Nations", or "Six bits of Euroland", I wonder?

WitteringsfromWitney said...

Anon: Link did not seem to work.....

WY: Initially, until the official statement, either hacks were relying on briefings supplied by spokesman or decided to paraphrase the briefing into the best possible light.

Either way it shows 'spin' and/or collusion. It is also interesting that had the initial reports been entirely innocent I have yet to see any corrections......

TomTom said...

Europe is the home of Grand Designs and has become so since the French Revolution trying to create secular empire. All the shibboleths whether Fascism, Nazism, Socialism, Marxism, Syndicalism, all emanate from French desires for universal control and German obsessions with ideological purity finding no room for contrary opinion. The Euro Project is simply One Ring To Bind Them All

Anonymous said...

As I've pointed out before: THIS country is exposed to greater financial problems than any other EU country, via the City of London Financial Centre for Illegal and Poorly Regulated Transactions.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/psssst-france-here-why-you-may-want-cool-it-britain-bashing-uks-950-debt-gdp

Anonymous said...

Another economist comment on the UK:
Assuming Haver Analytics, which I believe is a semi-independent affiliate of Morgan Stanley, has their data set in good shape, total debt (governmental, household, financial, non-financial) as a % of GDP is far and away the highest in the UK out of any developed nation in the world, at just under 1000%.
In the developed world asylum of debt addicts, the UK is 'Chief Crazy Pills', full on lobotomy (and a huge reason why is their cesspool, gangrenous financial sector, which is a plague and scar upon the land)

Maybe it hasn't sunk in yet: the dept of the FINANCIAL sector, as has been shown in 2007/2008, is transferred to the PUBLIC sector when disaster occurs via the infamous "bail-outs".
The FINANCIAL sector dept (your mortgage, packaged with others and sold at a much higher price than the combined value of the depts (re-re-re-hypothecated)) is massively higher than public sector dept. In fact, a house-of-cards awaiting the wind of financial sanity.

TomTom said...

Actually Anonymous the UK exposure is due to banks like Merrill Lynch and Lehman Bros. running their operations out of London and writing deals in The City but with Assets and Liabilities elsewhere. The UK is the originator of deals globally between foreigners and so the liabilities sit on the books in London.

Before Merrill went bust it transferred all its losses to the UK; before Lehman went bust it transferred all its cash OUT of the UK without comprehending UK bankruptcy law.

Banks have reversed balance sheets. What a company considers a Liability = Loans a Bank considers an Asset. But when the Loans turn bad they are Liabilities not Assets and Gordon Brown decided that UK Taxpayers would shoulder the burden which increased when he devalued Sterling by 30%.

It is Scottish triumphalism at recreating the Disaster of The Darien Scheme

Anonymous said...

But where did I say any different.
They use London because of the lax regulation and the lax regulator. Fortunately the soon-to-be-changed lax regulator.
Banking reform accepted. Maybe. I'll wait for the legislation to pass. It'll take just enough time for the laxly-regulated to find another home. Even then it won't affect things much.

TomTom said...

But where did I say any different.

You didn't say any different, but many do not know the globalised elite has chosen their country to be a financial dustbin and leave them and their descendants the job of emotying it - it is not only nuclear waste that has a half-life !