IMF defends S. Korean
aid
Director calls $57B rescue package
'sufficient,' denies Japan is next
December 12, 1997: 7:45 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - International
Monetary Fund Managing Director Michel
Camdessus defended the international
community's record-breaking $57 billion
rescue package for South Korea Friday
and said Japan would not need help.
"Let me tell you that Japan will not be
next," Camdessus told public television's
"Newshour with Jim Lehrer." "Japan is a
rescuer in this business. Japan will not
need to be rescued."
Camdessus, in his first comments since
the IMF approved the South Korean
rescue deal, said the worst is over,
provided all sides fulfill their promises.
"The worst is behind us, provided the
Korean people and their friends persevere
in the program," he said.
"The government of Korea is delivering
what it has pledged," he said. He added:
"We believe that the financing is
sufficient."
The $57 billion package, even bigger
than a U.S.-led international bailout for
Mexico in 1995, was the third multibillion
dollar loan masterminded by the IMF this
year. Countries have been hit by tumbling
currencies and ailing stock markets, while
Seoul's problems have been compounded
by a weak financial sector and a mountain
of bad debt.
Financial markets have reacted very
negatively to the rescue package and some
analysts had said that the $57 billion
bailout would not be big enough to cope
with Seoul's massive financial problems.
"The package is there for restoring
confidence over time and to help the
country to fix its economy. You do not do
that overnight," he said.
"We must be committed to our
program, deliver what we promised, and
our friends in Korea must do the same." |
