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Bush offers little help to Argentina on IMF talks: msg#00057
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Bush offers little help to Argentina on IMF talks |
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/04/AR2005110401213.html
Bush offers little help to Argentina
on IMF talks
By Tabassum Zakaria
Reuters
Friday, November 4, 2005; 2:28 PM
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (Reuters) - The United States on Friday
offered little help to Argentina in its quest for more-flexible terms
from the International Monetary Fund, as they prepare for talks on a
new economic program.
U.S. President George W. Bush said Argentina was in a stronger position
than when it earlier relied on U.S. help with the international lender,
and a State Department official said Argentina had a sufficient record
of economic improvements to make its own case to the IMF after a
financial collapse in 2001-2002.
Bush said after meeting with Argentine President Nestor Kirchner that
Kirchner told him he wished the IMF had a different outlook toward
Argentina and its economy. But Bush appeared to suggest that the United
States -- the IMF's biggest and most powerful shareholder -- would not
wield its influence in any discussions.
"I was pleased that the United States was helpful during the early part
of his (Kirchner's) term with the IMF, and I suggested that his record
is such now that he can take his case to the IMF with a, with a much
stronger hand," Bush said.
Argentine media had reported before the meeting that Kirchner would ask
Bush to wield his influence with IMF to obtain the best terms for
Argentina.
Argentina has been pushing for the IMF to take a more flexible position
on issues such as taxes, debt, interest rates and exchange rates as
they prepare for formal talks on a new IMF-backed economic program.
Argentina suspended negotiations with the IMF more than a year ago to
focus on restructuring $100 billion in defaulted debt with private
creditors, but has said it is ready to restart talks. No schedule for
new talks has been released.
Tom Shannon, assistant secretary for the Western Hemisphere at the U.S.
State Department, told reporters at the summit that Argentina's record
could stand on its own.
"Argentina really doesn't need our help in this regard because it has
the success story that it needs to take into these kinds of
negotiations," Shannon said.
Kirchner, who took power long after the crisis, is a fierce critic of
the IMF in tensions that date back to a meltdown triggered by the
government's free-spending ways that eventually drove the country to
economic collapse.
"He (Kirchner) has been an outspoken person for reform. I listened very
carefully to his point of view," said Bush, who
was in Argentina attending the 34-nation Summit of the Americas.
Kirchner believes that as Argentina moves forward, the IMF "should be a
less-intrusive partner in terms of creating conditionalities for
official IMF assistance," Shannon said.
He said it was in the interest of the United States that Argentina do
well, "because a stable, democratic, prosperous Argentina is an
important anchor in a region that faces a lot of trouble at this time."
Bush on Friday conducted a round of diplomacy on the fringes of the
summit. He held a morning session with leaders of Central American
countries that signed a free-trade agreement, and later held joint
talks with leaders of Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador.
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