IMF and Russia

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

IMF sees no present need for Russian bailout
Date: Tue Jun 09 20:05:23 CDT 1998
 
                                         
   WASHINGTON, June 9 (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF)  
sees no present need to provide Russia with emergency financial 
assistance, Deputy IMF Managing Director Stanley Fischer said here 
Tuesday. 
   "We don't see a present need," he told a press conference. "If  
there were to be a need, we'd consider it." 
   The Russian government is grappling with a cash crisis and  
financial instability that has unnerved investors, who fear a 
government debt default and a devaluation of the ruble. 
   Authorities in Moscow were looking for unequivocal moral support  
from Group of Seven deputy finance ministers, who have gathered in 
Paris to debate ways of boosting confidence in the Russian economy. 
   Russia insists it has weathered the worst of the financial  
storm, citing a 1.25 billion dollar eurobond issue last week and a 
new fiscal plan calling for spending cuts. 
   In addition, the US agency Standard and Poor's, while lowering  
Russia's long-term foreign currency rating, on Tuesday described 
economic prospects in the country as stable.