Main focus of Monday, July 19, 2010

IMF disciplines Hungary

The International Monetary Fund and the EU have stopped credit talks with highly-indebted Hungary on the grounds that the Orbán government's austerity measures do not go far enough. The move puts a freeze on a loan package of over 25.1 billion dollars previously granted to Budapest. Such disciplinary measures in budget matters do Europe good, writes the press.

Die Welt - Germany

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the EU have interrupted credit talks with the highly-indebted Hungary. That shows how effective the EU can be thanks to its cooperation with the IMF, writes the conservative daily Die Welt: "Because the Fund can do what the European partners could hardly have done among themselves, namely increase and maintain pressure, especially when the negotiations over the billions of euros in aid money are over and it comes time to implement the agreed-upon austerity plan. ... Like the Eurozone members, the EU Commission could hardly have applied pressure so effectively. Because in the European club national sensitivities and political alliances count for at least as much as economic nuts and bolts. ... The IMF staff showed on the weekend that more is being done here than tying up austerity packages and compiling check lists. The Fund has above all the political independence and the experience to steer austerity measures from abroad." (19/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Greece, » Hungary, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Tobias Kaiser

Rzeczpospolita - Poland

The International Monetary Fund has suspended a line of credit to Hungary because of its budget deficit. Disciplinary action will do Europe's budget politicians good, writes the conservative daily Rzeczpospolita: "Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Iceland, the Baltic countries - and of course Greece: the list of states counting on international aid in the wake of the crisis has not stopped growing. Certainly, the reasons for the collapse varied somewhat from country to country. But in a nutshell they can be ascribed to a single cause, namely carelessness on the part of governments or financial supervisors. ... Nevertheless there's also a positive side to all this. The IMF's influence has no doubt grown enormously - like its budget, which has been tripled by the G20. Sceptics will say the IMF sticks its nose everywhere it can. But the truth is that a fierce watchdog is just what is needed to keep some states in line." (19/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Poland
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Népszabadság - Hungary

Hungary has a lot to thank the IMF and EU loans for, writes the left-liberal daily Népszabadság. This makes it all the worse that Prime Minister Victor Orbán's government won't receive any more money as a result of its policies: "We are rubbing our eyes in disbelief. It's almost certain that the forint will devaluate again now. … The Orbán government can't make such a fool of us. … We could have openly announced that we don't need the IMF and EU loans. But then how would we have paid our horrendous debts? We definitely wouldn't have secured any loans on the money markets - we saw that in autumn 2008. If we hadn't had the loan package from the IMF and EU not only our economic but also our political stability would have been badly shaken. And obviously the IMF's money isn't that dirty, otherwise the Orbán government wouldn't have applied for another loan." (19/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Hungary
All available articles from » Zoltán F. Baka

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