WATCH: Christine Lagarde On Cyprus Bailout

Grand theft Cyprus sounds good to us.

IMF Chief Christine Lagarde speaks at Cyprus bailout press conference last week, while a few hours ago the IMF put the finishing touches on its separate bailout loan to Cyprus.

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IMF sets terms of Cyprus bailout

The International Monetary Fund has demanded that Cyprus cut state pension costs and reform its welfare system as the price of a €1bn loan to help bail out the stricken island.

The IMF's managing director, Christine Lagarde, said the poorest Cypriots would be protected from the worst of the cuts, but Cyprus must press ahead with measures to bring its annual state budget into surplus by 2018.

The deal, agreed in principle by the Cypriot government, provoked an immediate reaction from trade unions, which called on bank workers to strike over potential pension cuts. Officials from the Cyprus Union of Bank Employees called on bank staff in Nicosia to walk off their jobs at lunchtime on Thursday, and gather in a protest march towards the parliament.

Underlining the sense of panic, the Cypriot central bank was reportedly preparing to extend capital controls to prevent a run on the banks despite previously lifting some more draconian elements earlier in the week.

The three-year IMF loan was secured against a series of reforms agreed by the government two weeks ago that involved shutting the island's second largest bank, Laiki, and restructuring the biggest lender, Bank of Cyprus.  A tax on bank deposits of more than €100,000 was also put in place to raise €5.8bn from domestic funds, amid reports that the haircut could be between 40% and 80% of deposits.

Cyprus Bailout Details Emerge After IMF Deal - WSJ

Cyprus will limit first-class travel for senior officials, make it easier for banks to seize a person's home, and cut Easter bonuses to pensioners in exchange for a multibillion-euro bailout from its euro-zone peers and the International Monetary Fund.

The country has promised spending cuts and tax increases equal to more than a tenth of its $21.8 billion a year economy through 2018 in order to meet budget targets.

Other measures include raising retirement ages for public and private-sector workers, cuts to health-care spending and raising €1.4 billion from privatizations over the next five years, according to a draft document outlining parts of the deal.

On Wednesday, the IMF said it had reached a staff level, or initial, agreement with Cyprus to unlock its portion—about €1 billion—of a €10 billion bailout for the country, with formal approval expected in early May.  A final deal still needs the approval of other euro-zone members, who are footing 90% of the rescue, and are set to review its terms over the next two weeks.

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Bonus videos:

Cyprus residents burn EU flags.

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Laiki Bank employees protest at Cyprus parliament.

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Bank employees demand Central Bank chief resign.

Comments

[SKINFLINT]

WTH?http://www.2oceansvibe.com/2012/05/30/head-of-international-monetary-fund-doesnt-pay-tax-on-her-salary/

[DailyBail]

Good reminder, Skin. Lagarde is hypocrisy in motion.

[robertsgt40]

Don't you just love the "matter of fact" style she uses as IMF plunders unsuspecting depositors wealth? It's like "sacfifices have to be made" to shore up the criminal cartel. No biggy.

[DailyBail]

She's smooth as silk while she steals, and the media lap up every morsel.

[It is I only]

What did you expect from a stupid sheila, that does spend half of her time on a solar bed to be chocolate tanned!

[SKINFLINT]

I heard from a good source that they used her nut sack after the sex change as a scraper for removing the hair off of scalded hogs just before they dispose of the rest of the carcass when butchering.

[john]

IMF's Lagarde escapes formal investigation in court

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/24/us-imf-lagarde-france-idUSBRE94N0UW20130524

[snip]

(Reuters) - French magistrates decided on Friday not to place IMF chief Christine Lagarde under formal investigation over her role in a 285-million-euro ($368.5 million) arbitration payment made to a supporter of former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Note: Sarkozy moved his assets and ASS TO THE UK.

Note 2. If LADY LIBERTY reads this, your work here before keeping us updated was great and appreciated. if you could do an occasional links fest, it would really be appreciated. I am working on something huge and need the time to put this all together.

Thanks.

john

[john]

Christine Lagarde: IMF work can contribute to environmental change

Head of the International Monetary Fund said analysis of harmful effects of energy subsidies could be catalyst for action

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/25/christine-lagarde-imf-change

[snip]

The International Monetary Fund can play a role in protecting the planet from environmental damage, IMF head Christine Lagarde said on Tuesday, as she highlighted how an analysis of the harmful effects of energy subsidies could act as a catalyst for action.

Lagarde's speech at the United Nations on Tuesday was the most direct example yet of the IMF's foray into focusing on climate change, after it published a research paper on energy subsidies in March.

"The IMF is not an environmental organisation, but we can help here," Lagarde said, according to prepared remarks at a UN forum on sustainable development. "One example is by trying to shine a light on the murky cobweb of energy subsidies."

The IMF has made a bigger push in recent years to urge countries to rein in energy subsidies, which rarely help the most vulnerable people in a country and eat up valuable government money that could be better put to use for education or health care.