May 21, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson issued the following statement on the latest report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showing $10.77 billion of a $100 billion credit line has been tapped, which comes atop another $22 billion that had been borrowed from the U.S. $64 billion quota to the Fund as of Dec. 2011:
“The past two months has seen a steady rise in U.S. lending to the IMF, with an additional $3.5 billion, undoubtedly to help prop up Europe as it struggles through its sovereign debt crisis. This brings U.S. crisis lending to the Fund up to about $32.7 billion.
“Overall, the IMF has expanded total lending by $9.1 billion in the past two months, with $6.78 billion for Portugal and $2.13 billion for Greece alone. That means the U.S. in the past two months has provided over 38 percent of funds to prop up Europe, well in excess of our 17.72 percent quota obligation to the Fund. The IMF could not bail out all of Europe if it wanted to. It was never designed to be used by advanced economies in the first place. Yet, here we are.
“If the European Central Bank, Germany, and others in Europe do not want to borrow and print their own money to prop up Greece and Portugal, why should the rest of the world go into debt to prop up a sinking ship?
“This raises urgency for the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Rep. Spencer Bachus to bring up HR 2313 immediately so that it can be heard on the floor of the House. Bachus’ lack of attention to this bill is puzzling, as this legislation would rescind what remains of the U.S. $100 billion credit line to the Fund before it is all used propping up banks that bet poorly on European sovereign debt.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.
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