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To: long-gone who wrote (18287)	9/10/1998 6:56:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116864

Well Richard here is your chance to buy Citicorp, as I know you always wanted (just kidding) at the FUTURE bargain base price :) <<<<urged other countries not to copy Russia's ''regrettable'' decision to default on foreign debt>>> !!!!!. IMF plays down chance of early Russia cash 04:14 p.m Sep 10, 1998 Eastern By Janet Guttsman WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Thursday played down the chance of early cash for Russia, and urged other countries not to copy Russia's ''regrettable'' decision to default on foreign debt. First Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer said Russia, already the IMF's biggest borrower, needed both tax reforms and a coherent macroeconomic policy before any decision could be taken on releasing money from a $22.5 billion rescue deal. A Russian decision last month to default on some foreign debts was ''regrettable and unfortunate'' and other countries should take care not to follow the Russian lead, he added. ''We do not see this operation as a constructive one for any other country to follow, nor do we see a similar operation as being in the least justified or contemplated in markets in other regions.'' Fischer told a conference in Washington. The IMF originally expected to approve a $4.4 billion payment to Russia after Sept. 15, but that date has long looked unlikely due to the default, the steep fall of the rouble and a string of political changes, including now the nomination of foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov as prime minister. ''The money is the end of the process not the beginning of the process and the process is one of reaching agreement on a set of policies to be followed,'' Fischer said. ''This would involve finding ways of dealing with the current moratorium on the debt, regularizing relationships with private sector creditors and finding ways of getting (Russia) back into the international system.'' But Fischer also said he did not want to speculate on when additional payments could be made. The fund is facing severe criticism for its policies in Russia, which has repeatedly reneged on its promises and has rarely managed to collect enough taxes to meet budget plans. The most recent IMF loan programme -- the package included $11 billion of new IMF cash -- unravelled after just a few weeks as markets questioned the government's ability to defend the rouble and meet its reformist promises. President Boris Yeltsin sacked that government, attempted to bring back former prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and then nominated Primakov after the communist-dominated lower house of parliament rejected Chernomyrdin twice. Fischer declined to comment on Primakov's nomination. ''We don't make decisions based on who people are, it's the policies they are willing to implement that matter,'' he said. He said further payments would depend ''at a minimum'' on Russia's adoption of a coherent macroeconomic framework and the government's decision to bring in plans to deal with underlying structural problems which had a chance of being implemented. Russia needed a functioning tax system and a government willing and able to make the right decisions. U.S. Treasury Undersecretary David Lipton also urged Russia to clarify the position for foreign creditors and he told a congressional committee that IMF and World Bank loans could only be made available if Russian reforms continued. Lipton said Russia should resist the temptation of lending and spending its way out of trouble as this would only lead to ''high, perhaps hyper-inflation.'' Russian prices rose a staggering 35.7 percent in the first week in September -- equivalent to 4.462 percent a day -- as the rouble spiraled lower and shops marked up the prices of domestic and imported goods. Year-on-year inflation was 6.4 percent in July, the last month for which annual figures are available. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.