Newt sez IMF'll get its money (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

>From Soren Ambrose:

Gingrich sees passage of U.S. funding for IMF
Date: Wed Apr 29 14:35:35 CDT 1998
                                         
         WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House  Speaker Newt Gingrich  
said Wednesday that funding for the International Monetary Fund 
should clear Congress in the coming months, provided the lending 
agency agrees to a tough set of reforms. 
         ``It is my expectation that by midsummer the House will have  
passed an IMF bill, that we will in fact have set conditions,'' 
Gingrich told a meeting of business leaders in Washington. 
         ``But we are not going to prop up an IMF which is secret,  
pays no taxes and follows bad policies,'' he said. 
         ``We will support and provide money for an IMF which is  
transparent, agrees that policies other than higher taxes are 
legitimate and is willing to work out how its own staff 
understand what taxation is all about,'' Gingrich, a Georgia 
Republican, told a meeting organized by the U.S. Chamber of 
Commerce. 
         The Chamber has been one of the fiercest lobbyists for IMF  
funding, arguing that U.S. interests could be hurt if Washington 
does not foot its share of the bill. 
         Despite appeals from President Clinton and the Chamber,  
Gingrich and other Republican leaders agreed last week to drop 
$18 billion for the IMF from emergency legislation speeding its 
way through Congress. 
         Gingrich sharply criticized the IMF on Wednesday, and said  
Congress would force sweeping changes on the lending agency. 
         He attacked IMF lending practices and demanded to know why  
IMF staff members get tax-breaks. Foreign nationals working for 
the IMF do not pay taxes on income from the fund, a practice in 
line with other international institutions. 
         But Gingrich's comments nonetheless provided a clear  
indication that the House would revive legislation to fund the 
IMF, which needs the money to replenish reserves drained in 
multibillion-dollar rescue deals for troubled Asian states.