IMF chief highlights recession risk of no-deal Brexit

The UK economy would rapidly start to contract in the event of a disruptive exit from the EU next spring, according to a stark International Monetary Fund report that highlights the recession risks of a no-deal Brexit.

Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s managing director, added that there would be costs to the UK under any outcome that involves leaving the EU.

Expressing the IMF’s growing concern at the possibility of an acrimonious divorce next March, Lagarde said: “If that happened there would be dire consequences. It would inevitably have consequences in terms of reduced growth, an increase in the [budget] deficit and a depreciation of the currency.

IMF Chief Lagarde Found Guilty In French Tycoon Payout Trial

PARIS, Dec 19 (Reuters) - French judges convicted IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Monday of negligence for a state payout made while she served as France’s finance minister in 2008, but imposed no punishment, citing her preoccupation at the time with the global financial crisis.

It was unclear whether the verdict would force Lagarde from her position as managing director of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund, a job she started in 2011. The IMF said its executive board was meeting on Monday to consider the implications of the ruling.

Christine Lagarde avoids jail, keeps job after guilty verdict in negligence trial

Christine Lagarde has been found guilty of negligence in approving a massive payout of taxpayers’ money to controversial French businessman Bernard Tapie but avoided a jail sentence.

A French court convicted the head of the International Monetary Fund and former government minister, who had faced a €15,000 (£12,600) fine and up to a year in prison. But it decided she should not be punished and that the conviction would not constitute a criminal record. On Monday evening the IMF gave her its full support.

Christine Lagarde: IMF chief convicted over payout

A French court has found International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde guilty of negligence but did not hand down any punishment.

As French finance minister in 2008, she approved an award of €404m ($429m; £340m) to businessman Bernard Tapie for the disputed sale of a firm.

Ms Lagarde, who always denied wrongdoing, was not present in court, having left Paris for Washington DC.

Canadian Economic Growth Slashed, Along With Rest Of World, In IMF Report

TORONTO — The International Monetary Fund is lowering its economic growth projections for Canada and the world.

Slowing growth in global oil exports, low crude prices and weak demand for non-oil commodities were identified as factors.

The IMF is now projecting Canada's economy to grow by 1.5 per cent this year and by 1.9 per cent next year.

Greece Demands IMF Explain ‘Disaster’ Remarks In Explosive Leak

The leaked remarks of International Monetary Fund officials suggesting the lender may threaten to pull out of Greece’s bailout are eliciting anger in Athens and could jeopardize debt negotiations.

The Huffington Post exclusively obtained a private letter on Saturday from Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras to IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, demanding answers for some of the controversial comments in a March 19 teleconference between Poul Thomsen, IMF European director, Delia Velculescu, IMF chief of mission in Greece and IMF official Iva Petrova.

Christine Lagarde, IMF Chief, Warns World Is 'Toast' Without Climate Change Action

LIMA, Peru -- International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said Wednesday that failure to take urgent action on global warming will condemn humanity to the same fate as the Peruvian poultry that so many delegates to the group's annual meeting are enjoying this week in a country famed for its cuisine.

"If we collectively chicken out of this we'll all turn into chickens and we'll all be fried, grilled, toasted and roasted,'' said Lagarde.

IMF Says No To Bailout Deal For Greece, Unless Debt Relief Included

WASHINGTON -- An International Monetary Fund official says the IMF cannot participate in another Greek bailout until Greece and its creditors make difficult decisions on economic reforms and debt relief.

Briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, the official says Greece needs to commit to reforms and creditors must provide debt relief — extending loan terms or reducing the debt outright — that will allow Greece to pay its bills over time.

I.M.F. Demands Greece Debt Relief as Condition for Bailout

FRANKFURT — The International Monetary Fund threatened to withdraw support for Greece’s bailout on Tuesday unless European leaders agree to substantial debt relief, an immediate challenge to the region’s plan to rescue the country.

The aggressive stance sets up a standoff with Germany and other eurozone creditors, which have been reluctant to provide additional debt relief. The I.M.F role is considered crucial for any bailout, not only to provide funding but also to supervise Greece’s compliance with the terms.

IMF says Greece needs extra €60bn in funds and debt relief

The International Monetary Fund has electrified the referendum debate in Greece after it conceded that the crisis-ridden country needs up to €60bn (£42bn) of extra funds over the next three years and large-scale debt relief to create “a breathing space” and stabilise the economy.

With days to go before Sunday’s knife-edge referendum that the country’s creditors have cast as a vote on whether it wants to keep the euro, the IMF revealed a deep split with Europe as it warned that Greece’s debts were “unsustainable”.

Refugees Of Development

HADE, Kosovo — In 1999, Serbian commandos wearing hoods over their heads and greasepaint on their faces entered this mountain village and executed five Muslim men ages 25 to 80. The soldiers forced the surviving inhabitants onto buses headed for Albania and Macedonia. Then they set nearly every home in Hade ablaze.

After an American-led bombing campaign ran Serb forces out of Kosovo, the people of Hade returned from refugee camps and from havens higher in the mountains. Over the next few years they rebuilt their village and resumed tending their cows and gardens and mining coal for KEK, Kosovo’s state-owned power company.

‘The Benefits Do Not Trickle Down': Reaganomics Bad For The Economy, IMF Argues

The International Monetary Fund just blew a big hole through trickle-down economics.

You’ve probably heard of trickle-down economics: It gained popularity in the 1970s and was a major part of the pro-business “Reaganomics” agenda of the 1980s.

Europe Offered Greece A Deal To Meet Its Obligations By Cutting Military Spending. The IMF Said No Way.

While European leaders and International Monetary Fund representatives continue to blame Greece for the impasse in negotiations over the terms of Greece’s bailout, a Saturday report by the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reveals the IMF vetoed a compromise that cut military spending proposed by the European Commission.

European officials involved in the negotiations told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that the vetoed proposal, put forward by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, would have allowed Greece to defer 400 million euros in pension cuts, as long as it cut an equivalent amount from its military budget. The German newspaper reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Holland had signed off on Juncker’s compromise plan.

Markets Tumble As IMF Negotiators Walk Away From Greece Crisis Talks

ATHENS, Greece -- Markets tumbled Friday as investors reassessed their recent bout of optimism over the likelihood of a deal that would prevent the country from going bankrupt.

The moves were stoked by the International Monetary Fund's decision on Thursday to send its negotiators home from bailout talks with Greek officials in Brussels, citing a lack of progress. Observers had been increasingly optimistic that a deal would be reached by the end of the month.

The main Athens stock exchange was down 5.6 per cent in late-afternoon trading, a day after it surged 8 per cent on hopes of an imminent breakthrough that would unlock bailout funds that Greece needs to pay upcoming debts and avoid a default.

Fossil fuels subsidised by $10m a minute, says IMF

Fossil fuel companies are benefitting from global subsidies of $5.3tn (£3.4tn) a year, equivalent to $10m a minute every day, according to a startling new estimate by the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF calls the revelation “shocking” and says the figure is an “extremely robust” estimate of the true cost of fossil fuels. The $5.3tn subsidy estimated for 2015 is greater than the total health spending of all the world’s governments.

Greece pays IMF day before due: Ministry sources

Greece paid about €750-million to the International Monetary Fund on Monday, a day before it was due, two Greek finance ministry officials told Reuters on Monday.

The payment averting the prospect of default that had shaken financial markets.

“The order to pay the IMF has been executed,” a senior Greek finance ministry official said.

Ukraine Denouement: The IMF’s One-Two Punch

The fate of Ukraine is now shifting from the military battlefield back to the arena that counts most: that of international finance. Kiev is broke, having depleted its foreign reserves on waging war that has destroyed its industrial export and coal mining capacity in the Donbass (especially vis-à-vis Russia, which normally has bought 38 percent of Ukraine’s exports). Deeply in debt (with €3 billion falling due on December 20 to Russia), Ukraine faces insolvency if the IMF and Europe do not release new loans next month to pay for new imports as well as Russian and foreign bondholders.

Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko announced on Friday that she hopes to see the money begin to flow in by early March. But Ukraine must meet conditions that seem almost impossible: It must implement an honest budget and start reforming its corrupt oligarchs (who dominate in the Rada and control the bureaucracy), implement more austerity, abolish its environmental protection, and make its industry “attractive” to foreign investors to buy Ukraine’s land, natural resources, monopolies and other assets, presumably at distress prices in view of the country’s recent devastation.

IMF: Uninsured Mortgages Booming In Canada, Pose Risk To Economy

There are signs of overvaluation in Canada’s housing market, and the government may need to tighten rules on uninsured mortgages to keep things from getting out of hand, the International Monetary Fund says.

IMF researcher Hamid Faruqee said house prices in Canada are 5 to 20 per cent higher than economic fundamentals indicate they should be, Reuters reported.

In its latest report on Canada, the IMF still expects a "soft landing" for the housing market but worries about the boom in uninsured mortgages, which it says are growing at a rate of 10 per cent per year and account for the “bulk” of new mortgages in the country.

Canada's Housing Market Draws IMF Warning

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is reminding Canada that its overvalued housing market remains a vulnerability, even as it expects the economy to grow this year and next.

The IMF encouraged "continued vigilance" around real estate in its latest Global Economic Outlook, saying that housing prices remain "high relative to both income and rents" and estimating them at about "10 per cent higher than fundamental values."

Christine Lagarde, IMF Chief, Investigated For 'Negligence' In Corruption Probe

PARIS - Christine Lagarde, the chief of the International Monetary Fund, was placed under official investigation for negligence in a French corruption probe that dates back to her days as France's finance minister.

In a statement Wednesday after a fourth round of questioning before magistrates, Lagarde said she would return to her work in Washington later in the day and said the decision was "without basis." She is the third IMF managing director in a decade to face legal troubles.