Temporary victory on IMF

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Thursday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives Commerce committee
passed an appropriations bill which does NOT include the Clinton
administration's requested $14.5 billion for the IMF quota increase. It
does contain $3.5 billion for the IMF's New Arrangements to Borrow.

We still face the danger of the money being added in a vote of the full
House of Representatives or, perhaps more worrisome, when a House-Senate
conference committee meets to reconcile their appropriations bills. (The
Senate has already approved the $14.5 billion IMF expansion.)

The House vote may be as soon as next week -- though it may be delayed
until at late as the beginning of next month. The conference committee
will follow that.

For now, however, we've won a huge, albeit temporary, victory.

Robert Weissman
rob@essential.org