M A I N   N E W S

G-24 nations flay IMF conditions

Washington, April 29
India joined the G-24 countries in criticising the double standards of the industrialised nations which, on one side, resorted to protectionist measures, while, on the other, urged the developing countries to open up.

A communique released at the end of the meeting of G-24 countries said measures such as anti-dumping and countervailing duties imposed prohibitive costs of more than $ 100 billion a year on developing nations and dampened their export effort.

They also flayed the developed countries for continuing with massive subsidies to the tune of $ 300 billion a year on their agricultural products, thereby crippling the competitiveness of exports of these products by developing nations.

They also noted that foreign direct investment flows were concentrated in a small number of developing countries. They, however, welcomed the European Union’s “everything but arms” initiative to grant lower income countries duty and quota free access to their markets. A similar initiative has been mooted by the New Zealand Government.

Taking exception to the conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the ministers said these had become excessive in both magnitude and scope during the past decade. They emphasised the need to take into account the institutional capacity and domestic legislative process of programme countries in implementing the conditions.

The ministers said efforts to combat money laundering should be based on a cooperative strategy involving both developing and developed countries. The efforts to curb this should not only be concentrated on offshore centres, but also large financial centres where most of the financial flow originate, they said.

Cautioning the IMF against the non-cooperative manner in which the Financial Action Task Force went about in formulating the recommendations on anti-money laundering, they said the involvement of Bretton Woods Institutions in the law enforcement aspects was not appropriate.

They also noted that aid to developing countries in proportion to the GNP of donor remained lower at 0.24 per cent which fell far short of the 0.7 per cent target set by the United Nations. They noted that the efforts to attain the goal of reducing poverty by half by 2015 will require mobilisation of significant funding through out the development community.

They welcomed the establishment of the independent evaluation office in the IMF and commended the board for the cooperative and transparent manner in which the Director was selected. India’s Planning Commission Member Montek Singh Ahluwalia will take over as the director in August. UNI

$ 2.5 bn World Bank aid likely for India

IMF Managing-Director Horst Kohler greets Development Committee Chairman Yashwant Sinha of India on Saturday before the start of the Group-24 ministers meeting in Washington.  — AFP photo

Washington, April 29
India is likely to secure assistance to the tune of over $ 2.5 billion from the World Bank this year, the highest since it went nuclear in 1998, official sources said today.

The sources told UNI that Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha met World Bank President James Wolfensohn yesterday and urged him to fund the Prime Minister’s ambitious National Highway Project, linking Kashmir with Kannyakumari, and other state highway projects.

Mr Sinha, who is here to attend the spring meeting of the bank and the International Monetary Fund, also apprised Mr Wolfensohn of the status of the second generation reforms put in place by the government through the current Union Budget.

India will also receive assistance to the tune of $ 400 million from the World Bank’s affiliate International Finance Corporation (IFC), the highest amount ever lent by the agency to the country.

The Finance Minister and his delegation also met IMF Managing Director Host Kohler who expressed satisfaction with India’s stable growth, saying it had not been affected by the global economic slow down.

Addressing a news conference here two days ago, Mr Kohler had said that India’s growth could even touch 8 per cent, provided it implemented structural reforms.

Mr Sinha, who arrived here on Friday, also had a meeting with US Treasury Secretary Paul O. Neill and discussed bilateral economic and trade issues. He is scheduled to leave for India on Tuesday. UNI

Man posing as SP: probe ordered
Our Correspondent

Ferozepore, April 29
Mystery shrouding the antecedents of a person posing as SP (Vigilance) has snowballed into a major controversy as the Deputy Commissioner as well as the Senior Superintendent of Police have marked independent inquiries to the Subdivisional Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police, Headquarters, respectively, to look into the matter.

A person who posed himself as SP (Vigilance) from Chandigarh rang up the president of the local teachers union about alleged misappropriation of funds and mass copying in a college. According to information, the imposter contacted other members of the union and enquired about various allegations pertaining to the college and its Principal. He gave his mobile phone number and address which were found to be fictitious.