Press Release - Transcripts of a Press Briefing with Gerry Rice, Spokesman, IMF Communications DepartmentWashington DC June 30, 2016
MR. RICE: Good morning, everyone. And welcome to this press briefing on behalf of the International Monetary Fund. I'm Gerry Rice of the Communications Department, and as usual, our briefing this morning will be embargoed until 10:30 a.m., that’s Washington, D.C. Time.
Let me begin as usual with some notices of events and calendar, and then I'll come to the questions in the room. And I see we have some questions online also, so I'll do that.
Let me begin with the schedule of the Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, who will be giving a speech at the Paris Club, tomorrow, actually, Friday, July 1st, that will be in Paris. It's the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Paris Club, and that also coincides with the welcoming of South Korea to be the Paris Club's 21st Member. That's tomorrow.
The Managing Director will then travel to Aix en Provence, where on July 3rd, which is Sunday, she will participate in a panel discussion at the well-known annual conference of economists in France, Le Cercle des Economistes, and the theme of the discussion this year is, “What Path for Economic Prosperity.”
Then a bit later next month, July the 14th, an auspicious day for some, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Center for Global Development, Madam Lagarde will give a speech there at the Center for Global Development, on the issues facing low-income countries, and highlighting the critical role of global collaboration amongst issues.
This will be followed by a conversation with Nancy Birdsall, who is the Center's President, as you know, and open to the Press. There will be a Q&A, and all the rest of it.
A couple of other things that may be of interest. Today we are publishing a working paper by IMF Staff, called “Syria's Conflict”, and the economic implications of that. It outlines the challenges Syria faces in rebuilding its economy, and that may be of interest, to you.
Secondly, today, also, we are publishing one of our staff discussion notes that focuses on the issue of withdrawal of correspondent banking relationships by large global financial institutions in several regions after the -- in the wake of the global financial crisis, this is the so-called de-risking issue, which I know is of interest to many of you. So the paper is looking at that issue broadly, and I believe we are doing a press call beforehand to give you some background on that if it's useful.
Finally, then, Maury Obstfeld, our Economic Counselor, will present our next WEO Update, World Economic Outlook Update, at a press briefing here at the Fund on July 19. So, not too far from now. The next WEO update will -- again, I know that’s of interest to many of you. So, with that, let me take any questions that you might have.
QUESTIONER: A couple Brexit questions for you. To begin, just a general question - can you update us on the Fund's view of how this impacts the global economy?
MR. RICE: I am predicting that there might be a few questions on Brexit today, including the one you’ve asked. I would like to suggest I take a few, and just for efficiency purposes. I'll take a few, and I'll come back. You know, we can do a follow up, or if I miss something I'll come back. Is that okay with you?
Media Relations
E-mail: media@imf.org
Phone: 202-623-7100
page source http://www.imf.org/
