December 14, 2005

Solidarity Africa Network in Action (Kenya) * 50 Years Is Enough Network (U.S.)

**ALERT: Debt Cancellation Plan to be Undermined to Expand IMF Power**

*IMF Set to Deny Cancellation to 6 of 18 Countries in Plan*

UPDATE: Contact Finance Ministries and IMF Executive Directors!
CONTACT INFO FOLLOWS ALERT!

Further analysis here

Multiple highly reliable sources have confirmed that the IMF board is scheduled to meet on December 21 (Wednesday) to consider country-specific recommendations made by IMF staff on implementation of the 100% debt cancellation plan proposed by the G8 this summer and approved at the September annual meeting. These sources indicate that, using processes and logic outlined in documents published on its website last week, IMF staff will recommend that six of the 18 countries eligible for immediate cancellation be denied.

Arbitrary Conditions, Departing from Plan Adopted by IMF Board

According to the criteria which the IMF has decided, arbitrarily, to use as “entry conditionality,” debt cancellation can be delayed if a country is deemed to have faltered in its “macroeconomic performance,” ceased to implement a poverty reduction strategy, or experienced problems with “public expenditure management” since it completed the HIPC program. (The G8 proposal makes cancellation available only to countries that have completed HIPC.)

The debt cancellation plan adopted by the board makes no provision for “entry conditionality,” specifying only that countries should have kept up their debt payments since their graduation from HIPC. IMF staff, however, has twisted language in the original proposal to assert that a need for entry conditions is implied.

Refusing to Let the Economic Empire Die

The IMF is fabricating a need for new conditions in order to ensure that it maintains control over Southern countries’ economies. Full cancellation would allow governments that choose not to sign up for a new IMF program to free themselves from IMF oversight and conditions. Though many face similar conditions from other creditors, the IMF is the most powerful because it determines, for nearly all aid agencies and financial institutions, which countries can be considered creditworthy (and grant-worthy). It is the linchpin of the oppressive debt system.

The six countries reported to be on the IMF’s “hit list” are Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Rwanda, and Senegal.

The first four in that list of six are also on another important list (provided by the IMF in its longer documents) – countries that are eligible for immediate debt cancellation but which either do not have current IMF programs or have programs that will expire before the end of 2005. Only five of the 18 eligible countries fall into this no-IMF-program category. The only one of those five that the IMF has not signaled it wants to block is Uganda – which recently indicated its interest in taking up a new IMF program (the PSI, discussed in our longer analysis).

So, if the IMF succeeds in blocking these six countries from getting debt cancellation, that will mean that no country without an IMF program will qualify.

Although the IMF will no doubt offer some logic for excluding each of the countries, the fact is that the IMF is serving as police force, prosecutor, judge, and jury for this program, and need not submit its reasoning to public examination. For those reasons, we cannot *prove* that the IMF has manufactured its criteria and its conclusions in order to insure that every country receiving cancellation will be committed to an IMF program. The evidence, we think, makes it hard to argue that the close match between the list of countries to be excluded and the list of countries without an IMF program is a mere coincidence.

Our longer analysis concludes that, in addition to the pattern established above, the IMF is preparing to claim that no country can get debt cancelled unless it has an in-force Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) approved by the IMF and World Bank. The IMF is likely to claim that the PRSP, despite routinely containing commitments to IMF policies, and requiring approval from both the IMF and World Bank, is not technically an IMF “program” or “arrangement.”

While the cancellation promised to these countries is substantial, what makes the G8’s debt deal a truly important break from business-as-usual is that it allows HIPC governments determined to free themselves from the IMF to do exactly that. If the IMF is allowed to establish a pattern of denying cancellation to any country it does not control, that possibility will remain out of reach.

TAKE ACTION: Tell Your Government to Make the IMF Stop Playing Games with the Debt Cancellation that has been Promised

Activists have the power to expose this maneuver and to reverse it. The high profile of the debt deal this year means governments and the IMF itself know debt cancellation has wide public support, and that they will come under attack if they are seen to be blocking it. Please contact your Finance Ministry and your representative to the IMF board. (In this case, Southern country governments and board members can have a valuable influence, so don’t assume that only Northern country citizens have a voice in this.)

Tell them you know that the IMF is subverting the G8 debt cancellation deal that was approved by the boards of the IMF and World Bank. By employing obscure and ambiguous rules, the IMF is attempting to conceal the fact that it will not tolerate any country trying to break free from its tyranny over economic policy.

Thank you!

UPDATE (12.14.2005) - We have email, phone and fax information for some IMF executive directors. Directly below this info is a list of ALL board members.

IMF and World Bank Executive Directors' Contact Information
Format:
Country Name
Executive Director Name
E-Mail
Phone (Where Available)
Fax (Where Available)

International Monetary Fund
Mailing Address for All:
700 19th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20431

United States
Nancy Jacklin
njacklin@imf.org
p: 202-623-7759
f: 202-623-4962

Japan
Shigeo Kashiwagi
skashiwagi@imf.org
p: 202-623-7208

Germany
Karlheinz Bischofberger
kbischofberger@imf.org
p: 202 623 7263
f: 202-623-4967

United Kingdom
Tom Scholar
tscholar@imf.org
p: 202 623 4560
f: 202-623-4965

France
Pierre Duquesne
pduquesne@imf.org
p: 202 623 6505
f: 202-623-4959

Canada, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines
Kevin G. Lynch
klynch@imf.org
202-623-7783

Italy, Albania, Greece, Malta, Portugal, San Marino
Pier Carlo Padoan
ppadoan@imf.org
p: 202 623 6990

Russian Federation
Aleksei V. Mozhin
amozhin@imf.org
p: 202 623-5890

Algeria, Afghanistan, Ghana, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia
Abbas Mirakhor
amirakhor@imf.org
p: 202 623 7370
f: 202-623-4712

Belgium, Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Turkey
Willy Kiekens
wkiekens@imf.org
p: 202-623-4590

Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Philippines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago
Murilo Portugal
mportugal@imf.org
p: 202-623-7880

Burundi, Angola, Botswana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Peter J. Ngumbullu
pngumbullu@imf.org
p: 202 623 7654
f: 202-623-4949

China
Xiaoyi Wang
xwang@imf.org
p: 202-623-5845

Guinea-Bissau, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Niger, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Somalia (informally), Togo
Damian Ondo Mañe
dondomane@imf.org
p: 202-623-7223

Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden
Jon A. Solheim
jsolheim@imf.org
p: 202 623 4994
f: 202-623-4571

India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka
B.P. Misra
bmisra@imf.org

Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, Vietnam
Made Sukada
msukada@imf.org
p: 202 623-4650

Kuwait, Bahrain, Arab Republic of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, Republic of Yemen
Shakour Shaalan
sshaalan@imf.org
p: 202 623-4517

Netherlands, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine
Jeroen Kremers
jkremers@imf.org
p: 202-623-4640

New Zealand, Australia, Cambodia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Republic of Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu
Jong Nam Oh
joh@imf.org
p: 202-623-8874

Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
Héctor R. Torres
htorres@imf.org
p: 202 623-7751
f: 202-623-5605

Saudi Arabia
Sulaiman M. Al-Turki
salturki@imf.org
p: 202 623-7283

Spain, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela
Moises Schwartz
mschwartz@imf.org
p: 202-623-7743

Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyz Republic, Poland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Fritz Zurbrügg
fzurbrugg@imf.org
p: 202 623-5855
f: 202-623-5390

Below are the board members of the IMF. Each seat has a primary representative and an alternate. It is a good idea to contact both.

For multiple-country constituencies, the member’s home country appears in parentheses. The names given to the constituencies are ours, devised to help people locate the group they are looking for; they are neither official nor wholly accurate.

Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), the IMF does not publish contact information for its board members. If you are able to obtain it, please use it, and send it to us! We do provide the main phone and fax numbers for the IMF; getting to the board members through them should not be difficult.

E-mail addresses at the IMF, including for board members, generally follow a set pattern. There are exceptions, but we do not have a way of predicting them. Most addresses are made up simply of the first initial followed by the last name, followed by the domain @imf.org. Hence, if the board member’s name was Benito Mussolini, his email address would most likely be bmussolini@imf.org.

The IMF lists its board members from those controlling the most votes to those controlling the least. Two countries are currently suspended: Liberia & Zimbabwe.

UNITED STATES: Nancy Jacklin / alternate: Meg Lundsager

JAPAN: Shigeo Kashiwagi / alt. Michio Kitahara

GERMANY: Karlheinz Bischolfberger / alt. Gert Meissner

FRANCE: Pierre Duquesne / alt. Olivier Cuny

UNITED KINGDOM: Tom Scholar / alt. Andrew Hauser

CENTRAL EUROPE (Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey): Willy Kiekens (Belgium)/ alt. Johann Prader (Austria)

EASTERN EUROPE (Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel, Macedonia, Moldova, Netherlands, Romania, Ukraine): Jeroen Kremers (Netherlands) / alt. Yuriy Yakusha (Ukraine)

LATIN AMERICA NORTH (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Spain, Venezuela): Moises Schwartz (Mexico) / alt. Mary Dager (Venezuela)

MEDITERRANEAN EUROPE (Albania, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, San Marino, East Timor): Arrigo Sadun (Italy) / alt. Miranda Xafa (Greece)

COMMONWEALTH AMERICAS (Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Ireland, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadines): Kevin Lynch (Canada) / alt. Peter Charleton (Ireland)

SCANDINAVIA & BALTIC (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden): Jon Solheim (Norway) / alt. David Farelius (Sweden)

PACIFIC (Australia, Kiribati, South Korea, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu): Jong Nam Oh (South Korea) / alt. Richard Murray (Australia)

MIDDLE EAST (Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen): Shakour Shaalan (Egypt) / no alt.

SAUDI ARABIA: Sulaiman Al-Turki / alt. Abdallah Alazzaz

SOUTHEAST ASIA (Brunei, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, Vietnam): Hooi Eng Phang (Malaysia) / alt. Made Sukada (Indonesia)

COMMONWEALTH AFRICA (Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia): Peter Ngumbullu (Tanzania) / alt. Peter Gakunu (Kenya)

CHINA: Wang Xiaoyi / alt. GE Huayong

CENTRAL ASIA & CENTRAL EUROPE (Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Serbia & Montenegro, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan): Fritz Zurbrügg (Switzerland) / alt. Andrzej Raczko (Poland)

RUSSIA: Aleksei Mozhin / alt. Andrei Lushin

NORTH AFRICA & FRIENDS (Afghanistan, Algeria, Ghana, Iran, Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia): Abbas Mirakhor (Iran) / alt. Mohammed Daïri (Morocco)

LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN (Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, Haiti, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago): Eduardo Loyo (Brazil) / alt. Roberto Steiner (Colombia)

SOUTH ASIA (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka): B.P. Misra (India) / alt. Amal Uthum Herat (Sri Lanka)

LATIN AMERICA SOUTH (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay): Hector Torres (Argentina) / alt. Javier Silva-Ruete (Peru)

FRANCOPHONE AFRICA (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Centrafrique, Chad, Comoros, Congo-Kinshasa, Congo-Brazzaville, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea-Conakry, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Togo): Damian Ondo Mane (Equatorial Guinea) / alt. Laurean Rutayisire (Rwanda)