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IMF / PORTUGAL
STORY: IMF / PORTUGAL
TRT: 1.51
SOURCE: IMF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 28 APRIL 2011, WASHINGTON DC
RECENT, WASHINGTON, DC
1. Wide shot, exterior IMF
28 APRIL 2011, WASHINGTON, DC
2. SOUNDBITE (English) David Hawley, Senior Advisor, External Relations, International Monetary Fund (IMF):
“Negotiations are ongoing and will continue as long as needed. All parties involved understand the importance of reaching agreement.”
3. Cutaway, reporters
4. SOUNDBITE (English) David Hawley, Senior Advisor, External Relations, International Monetary Fund (IMF):
“When the program for Greece was designed, the government made the decision the debt would be repaid and guarantees would be honored. These assumptions were incorporated into the program framework and they still hold.”
4. Cutaway, reporters
5. SOUNDBITE (English) David Hawley, Senior Advisor, External Relations, International Monetary Fund (IMF):
“The fourth review mission is tentatively scheduled to visit starting in early May. The focus of this mission will be to assess the policy implementation overall of the program. The focus will be on ensuring that policies continue to be calibrated in a way to deliver on program objectives. If you want specificity, we’re going to look at several key policy milestones including the medium term fiscal strategy, the authorities plan for privatization and real estate development and banks medium term funding plans.”
6. Cutaway, reporters
7. SOUNDBITE (English) David Hawley, Senior Advisor, External Relations, International Monetary Fund (IMF):
“We had good discussions with the Egyptian authorities on the challenges Egypt is facing and how the IMF can help. We have not gotten to the point where the authorities have made a formal request.”
RECENT, WASHINGTON, DC
8. Wide shot, exterior IMF
A spokesman for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said today that negotiations on a program with Portugal would continue as long as necessary.
“Negotiations are ongoing and will continue as long as needed. All parties involved understand the importance of reaching agreement,” said IMF spokesman David Hawley.
A team of representatives from the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Union will meet with the Portuguese caretaker government in Lisbon to hash out a financial rescue program for Portugal.
Separately, the IMF said a mission would travel to Greece in early May to evaluate the progress of the program with Greece. Despite market speculation about debt restructuring, Hawley said that was not on the agenda.
“When the program for Greece was designed, the government made the decision the debt would be repaid and guarantees would be honored. These assumptions were incorporated into the program framework and they still hold,” Hawley said.
Instead, the IMF, European Central Bank (ECB) and European Union (EU) would be focused on the government’s plans to get its deficit under control and funding plans for the country’s banks.
“The fourth review mission is tentatively scheduled to visit starting in early May. The focus of this mission will be to assess the policy implementation overall of the program. The focus will be on ensuring that policies continue to be calibrated in a way to deliver on program objectives. If you want specificity, we’re going to look at several key policy milestones including the medium term fiscal strategy, the authorities plan for privatization and real estate development and banks medium term funding plans,” Hawley said.
When asked about IMF plans to help out countries in the Middle East that had faced recent unrest, Hawley said that although no concrete plans were in the works, the IMF had had talks with the Egyptian authorities.
“We had good discussions with the Egyptian authorities on the challenges Egypt is facing and how the IMF can help. We have not gotten to the point where the authorities have made a formal request,” Hawley said.
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