Two different versions of events, one from the govt of Malawi and one from the IMF - apparently according to the reports the IMF was pressuring Malawi to pay debts and they sold the food reserves, and now the country, like others in Southern Africa is facing famine...The IMF is also choosing this time to be withholding loans until further cuts are made in govt spending ... As well the U.S. restates opposition to debt relief putting to rest that Jubilee 2000 idea...Also, in an unrelated story, the ink has dried on the Afghan pipe line deal...

The IMF has denied that it played a role in forcing Malawi to sell off its strategic food reserves (the country, like other countries in Southern Africa is facing famine this year).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_2014000/2014396.stm

"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has denied that it recommended the sale of Malawi's strategic maize reserves just before a crop failure occurred. Agriculture Minister Aleke Banda reportedly said last week that the IMF had encouraged the government to sell at least part of the reserve in 2000 to reduce debt. "International donors have argued that we do not have to keep reserves at those (high) levels," Mr Banda told the BBC's World Business Report. " According to the IMF, "Malawi sold the maize after advice from a food consultant, hired by the government in a European Union-funded project." Nevertheless, apparently Malawi was under pressure to pay off some of their loans. " Finance Minister Friday Jumbe told Reuters last week the government had been urged by the IMF and other donors to settle commercial debts. Malawi then sold the food reserve to pay off a one-year commercial loan taken in 1999 to establish the reserve, he added. "

Nothing was mentioned about a story that the IMF demanded that Malawi privatize food and open food policy to completely free market principles, something that supposedly happened last year, according to certain reports I have read. This does not seem beyond reason, when you consider the religious zeal with which the IMF pushes the privatization of everything, even the water people drink, and "Despite the food shortages, the IMF has suspended Malawi's poverty-reduction programme until it cuts government spending in its budget in June." Such budget cuts hurt the poor the most while benefiting the rich most, those who no longer have to pay taxes after all, so there is something very peculiar about this mixed message.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_2011000/2011512.stm

In another story the U.S.Treasury Secretary questioned how the World Bank allocates money. ""Forty-five percent of the people don't have clean water (and) if you look at the amount of money that's come into Uganda since 1986, I'm continuing to ask the question why clean water was such a low priority that it didn't get funding," he said. "The amount of money that's required to give everyone here clean water is maybe $25m (but) according to the local people, the World Bank gave them $300m and still getting them clean water was not a high priority." However, he also restated "US opposition to cancelling Africa's foreign debt," which means that the Jubilee 2000 campaign, and other debt reduction campaigns are pretty well dead in the water given U.S. opposition. The treasury secretary is travelling in the region with Bono, an American rock star, who supports debt relief.

Today the government of Zambia stated that 4,000,000 people are threatened by famine, the problem of the year in Southern Africa. As is typical, the appeal for funds for this disaster are grossly underfunded (the last time I checked the appeal was only 13 per cent funded). Now given the fact that Bono is touring Africa, and given the developing famine disaster and the traditional lack of funding which leads to those disasterous images we are all so familiar with, I thought I would mention that in 2000, the year of the Jubilee debt reduction campaign, just Sub-Saharan Africa alone was paying 250 million per week in debt payments. The Live Aid rock concert for famine victims in Sub Saharan Africa raised 200 million. Anyone capable of doing simple mathematics can realize that if, given the developing famine, the world should hold another rock concert, well given the situation this would be pretty well useless.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_2016000/2016340.stm
An unrelated story - the Afghanistan pipeline deal was signed today, putting paid to the plan, discussed in the Indian media, and apparently at the G-8 conference last year, according to those Indian media reports, putting the finishing touches to the 'war for a pipeline' in Afghanistan...
< BR>