Post by Tran Viet Anh on Jan 9, 2004 10:18:51 GMT 7
A second major international donors' meeting for Afghanistan will likely be held by early March to call for larger aid pledges than the initial $4.5 billion offered, Japanese Ambassador to Afghanistan Kinichi Komano said Wednesday, reports Kyodo. "The timing (of the donors' meeting) has yet to be decided. I pointed to late February or early March as logically it would have less meaning unless it is held around that time," Komano said.
The World Bank and other international lenders are conducting an assessment to determine the value of donations required to help reconstruct Afghanistan in the coming three years, he said. The ultimate goal for Afghan reconstruction is to rebuild the war-ravaged country into a state comparable to other nations by 2015, he said. The total pledges offered for two and a half years in the first major donors' meeting in January 2002 in Tokyo turned out to be far short of the amounts required now that most of them have been allocated, he said. "With the $4.5 billion, we were unable even to lay the groundwork for reconstruction."
But Komano ruled out the possibility that the amount to be sought in the second meeting will swell to tens of billions of dollars. As for the political process, the ambassador said, "I think it almost impossible that both elections will be held by June," as envisioned under an agreement in December 2001 in a UN-sponsored meeting of various Afghan parties in Bonn. Citing security reasons, Komano said it would take time to register the electorate, and that the pace at which this occurs will determine the election schedule. He also said current resources meet only one-third of the estimated $76 million costs involved. Japan is ready to offer money for voter registration and will consider sending personnel to serve as international monitors when the elections take shape, he said.
The news comes as Xinhua reports that the Afghan transitional government is determined to hold historic general elections scheduled for later this year despite mounting security concerns, a top security official said here on Thursday. "Under the present circumstances, we have no reason to postpone the upcoming general elections," Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali told a press briefing in Kabul. A recently ratified constitution has paved the way for the Afghan general elections, earlier scheduled for next June, while the incumbent transitional President Hamid Karzai is considered as the most favorite candidate for presidency.
The Financial Times meanwhile reports that a lack of international commitment to security in Afghanistan threatens to undermine the country's transition to democratic rule, Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, has warned. In a report delivered this week to the Security Council, Annan said national army, police and international security resources were "too limited to ensure the completion of the Bonn process." The UN says the number of election registration centers is too low to meet targets and that a lack of access will "result in the disenfranchisement of voters". Insecurity in the south meant such disenfranchisement would have "damaging ethnic undertones".
Meanwhile, Ashraf Ghani, the finance minister of Afghanistan, writes in an op-ed in the Financial Times that Afghanistan occupies a unique position among post-conflict countries in that it is sticking to the timetable, hammered out in November 2001, for moving from conflict to stability. This week's adoption of the constitution by the loya jirga marks the third big step in empowering the people that began with creation of an interim administration in December 2001 and will continue with elections this summer. With the rules now in place, it is imperative that institutions are created to give all Afghans confidence that the process of building a state, an economy and a society will be fair, just and inclusive. The rule of law is critical to creating trust. This, in turn, depends on providing security to all citizens. Millions have been disabled and millions more have missed the opportunity to acquire the education and skills that would allow them to participate in a modern economy; opportunities must now be provided to ensure their inclusion. We Afghans have shown our ability to engage in open discussion of our problems and find mechanisms for the constructive resolution of disagreements. Now the international community needs to be given confidence that assisting Afghanistan is an investment in the future - not only of the country itself but also of the region - not simply a charitable donation.
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New World Bank Argentina loan plan on hold for IMF =====================================================================
The World Bank, at the request of some of its member countries, has put consideration of a new lending program for Argentina on hold until the country has completed a delayed review of its IMF program, reports Reuters.
A World Bank official said on Wednesday the decision to postpone discussion of the new program at the executive board was made in December by the bank's management after some shareholders had asked for a delay. Argentina denied there were any problems, but is struggling to resolve outstanding issues with the IMF that are delaying the conclusion of the first review, worth $330 million, of its $12.55 billion loan program.
The World Bank's decision-making executive board was supposed to consider a lending strategy of around $5 billion over 4-1/2 years for Argentina in December, including a $500 million economic support loan. "In December some shareholders requested management postpone the presentation of the country assistance strategy," Alejandra Viveros, World Bank spokeswoman told Reuters. "It was postponed until completion of the IMF review." When the IMF review is finished a new date for a meeting will be set, she added.
Dow Jones notes that Viveros said the bank typically doesn't consider loans until after the IMF has certified that a country is making progress with economic reforms. That, she said, is "normal procedure." She said the bank has not halted any scheduled disbursement to Argentina, despite a report to the contrary in the Argentina press. "The only thing that was postponed was consideration of the $500 million loan and the country assistance strategy," she said.
In another piece, Dow Jones reports that Argentine Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernandez said Wednesday the government is confident the IMF will approve the first review of the country's September financial accord this month. Meanwhile, a senior official in Argentina's Economy Ministry told Dow Jones that the government hadn't set its heart on a Jan. 12 meeting and that the government was calmly "waiting on a decision that must come from the IMF."
Separately, Reuters notes that Argentine Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna on Wednesday rebuffed criticism the renegotiation of $88 billion in sovereign debt in default for the last two years was moving at a snail's pace. In a front page opinion piece in daily La Nacion, Lavagna said negotiations were "neither slow nor delayed," but he signaled there could be problems if the South American country comes under "undue pressures." Lavagna last week said the United States and International Monetary Fund were coming under pressure from private creditors to lobby Argentina for a better deal.
The Financial Times meanwhile reports that less than a week before a meeting between presidents Nestor Kirchner of Argentina and George W. Bush of the US, Argentina yesterday warned that the days of its automatic support for the world's most powerful nation were over. Alberto Fernandez, Argentina's cabinet chief stinging comments came a day after Roger Noriega, the US State Department's assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs, criticized what he saw as "a certain leftward drift" in Argentina's foreign policy.
The World Bank and other international lenders are conducting an assessment to determine the value of donations required to help reconstruct Afghanistan in the coming three years, he said. The ultimate goal for Afghan reconstruction is to rebuild the war-ravaged country into a state comparable to other nations by 2015, he said. The total pledges offered for two and a half years in the first major donors' meeting in January 2002 in Tokyo turned out to be far short of the amounts required now that most of them have been allocated, he said. "With the $4.5 billion, we were unable even to lay the groundwork for reconstruction."
But Komano ruled out the possibility that the amount to be sought in the second meeting will swell to tens of billions of dollars. As for the political process, the ambassador said, "I think it almost impossible that both elections will be held by June," as envisioned under an agreement in December 2001 in a UN-sponsored meeting of various Afghan parties in Bonn. Citing security reasons, Komano said it would take time to register the electorate, and that the pace at which this occurs will determine the election schedule. He also said current resources meet only one-third of the estimated $76 million costs involved. Japan is ready to offer money for voter registration and will consider sending personnel to serve as international monitors when the elections take shape, he said.
The news comes as Xinhua reports that the Afghan transitional government is determined to hold historic general elections scheduled for later this year despite mounting security concerns, a top security official said here on Thursday. "Under the present circumstances, we have no reason to postpone the upcoming general elections," Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali told a press briefing in Kabul. A recently ratified constitution has paved the way for the Afghan general elections, earlier scheduled for next June, while the incumbent transitional President Hamid Karzai is considered as the most favorite candidate for presidency.
The Financial Times meanwhile reports that a lack of international commitment to security in Afghanistan threatens to undermine the country's transition to democratic rule, Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, has warned. In a report delivered this week to the Security Council, Annan said national army, police and international security resources were "too limited to ensure the completion of the Bonn process." The UN says the number of election registration centers is too low to meet targets and that a lack of access will "result in the disenfranchisement of voters". Insecurity in the south meant such disenfranchisement would have "damaging ethnic undertones".
Meanwhile, Ashraf Ghani, the finance minister of Afghanistan, writes in an op-ed in the Financial Times that Afghanistan occupies a unique position among post-conflict countries in that it is sticking to the timetable, hammered out in November 2001, for moving from conflict to stability. This week's adoption of the constitution by the loya jirga marks the third big step in empowering the people that began with creation of an interim administration in December 2001 and will continue with elections this summer. With the rules now in place, it is imperative that institutions are created to give all Afghans confidence that the process of building a state, an economy and a society will be fair, just and inclusive. The rule of law is critical to creating trust. This, in turn, depends on providing security to all citizens. Millions have been disabled and millions more have missed the opportunity to acquire the education and skills that would allow them to participate in a modern economy; opportunities must now be provided to ensure their inclusion. We Afghans have shown our ability to engage in open discussion of our problems and find mechanisms for the constructive resolution of disagreements. Now the international community needs to be given confidence that assisting Afghanistan is an investment in the future - not only of the country itself but also of the region - not simply a charitable donation.
=====================================================================
New World Bank Argentina loan plan on hold for IMF =====================================================================
The World Bank, at the request of some of its member countries, has put consideration of a new lending program for Argentina on hold until the country has completed a delayed review of its IMF program, reports Reuters.
A World Bank official said on Wednesday the decision to postpone discussion of the new program at the executive board was made in December by the bank's management after some shareholders had asked for a delay. Argentina denied there were any problems, but is struggling to resolve outstanding issues with the IMF that are delaying the conclusion of the first review, worth $330 million, of its $12.55 billion loan program.
The World Bank's decision-making executive board was supposed to consider a lending strategy of around $5 billion over 4-1/2 years for Argentina in December, including a $500 million economic support loan. "In December some shareholders requested management postpone the presentation of the country assistance strategy," Alejandra Viveros, World Bank spokeswoman told Reuters. "It was postponed until completion of the IMF review." When the IMF review is finished a new date for a meeting will be set, she added.
Dow Jones notes that Viveros said the bank typically doesn't consider loans until after the IMF has certified that a country is making progress with economic reforms. That, she said, is "normal procedure." She said the bank has not halted any scheduled disbursement to Argentina, despite a report to the contrary in the Argentina press. "The only thing that was postponed was consideration of the $500 million loan and the country assistance strategy," she said.
In another piece, Dow Jones reports that Argentine Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernandez said Wednesday the government is confident the IMF will approve the first review of the country's September financial accord this month. Meanwhile, a senior official in Argentina's Economy Ministry told Dow Jones that the government hadn't set its heart on a Jan. 12 meeting and that the government was calmly "waiting on a decision that must come from the IMF."
Separately, Reuters notes that Argentine Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna on Wednesday rebuffed criticism the renegotiation of $88 billion in sovereign debt in default for the last two years was moving at a snail's pace. In a front page opinion piece in daily La Nacion, Lavagna said negotiations were "neither slow nor delayed," but he signaled there could be problems if the South American country comes under "undue pressures." Lavagna last week said the United States and International Monetary Fund were coming under pressure from private creditors to lobby Argentina for a better deal.
The Financial Times meanwhile reports that less than a week before a meeting between presidents Nestor Kirchner of Argentina and George W. Bush of the US, Argentina yesterday warned that the days of its automatic support for the world's most powerful nation were over. Alberto Fernandez, Argentina's cabinet chief stinging comments came a day after Roger Noriega, the US State Department's assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs, criticized what he saw as "a certain leftward drift" in Argentina's foreign policy.