WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is breaking its own rules and making a mockery of its global credibility by allowing Ukraine to default on its $3 billion debt to Russia, Trends Research Institute head Gerald Celente told Sputnik.
“Allowing Kiev to default on their $3 billion Eurobond deal with Russia is against IMF rules. But now they are ready to break their own rules,” Celente said.
In March 2015, the IMF approved a four-year $127.5 billion financial package to stabilize Ukraine’s troubled economy.
However, by the IMF’s own rules, the aid package is forfeit if Ukraine defaults on its Eurobond debt to Russia by the end of 2015.
Now, the IMF is reassessing its lending-into-arrears policy and could change it before November 30, according to media reports.
“This is a symptom of how central bankers behave. They behave as if there is no such thing as rules and laws. They do what they want,” Celente said.
“Nuland said the reforms that IMF requires are necessary for the long-term economic health of Ukraine. I guess she was wrong. Because they got the reforms … but they don’t have long-term stability and economic growth,” Celente pointed out.
Yanukovych sought to reach an economic agreement with Russia instead, but he was then ousted in a violent coup supported by the United States.
Yet, Ukraine’s economic condition under the new US-backed regime, while supported by the IMF, has continued to deteriorate, Celente pointed out.
“None of the promises Victoria Nuland made were fulfilled. None of her predictions came true. They take the path and under the new government they held new elections and none of it made any difference,” Celente observed.
The current IMF efforts to change the conditions for their lending requirements reveal their unpredictable and false standards, Celente argued.
“They make up the rules as they go along,” he stated.
Far from encouraging capitalism as the IMF claims to do, it has been undermining the process in Ukraine and elsewhere, Celente insisted.
“In capitalism you rise and fall on your own merits. With bankers you get too big to fail,” he said.
On October 29, IMF Communications Director Gerry Rice told a briefing the Fund wants to reform its lending policies in order to allow countries to borrow money even if they default on their obligations to bilateral creditors.
