IMF's John Lipsky quoted on this blog one year ago, denying IMF obligations

The posting was made on 15th May, 2010 and is linked here, of which this was the essence:

A TALE OF TWO PRESS BRIEFINGS

A] From the Council of the European Union, Economic & Financial Affairs, Press Release of 9/10 May:

‘In addition, euro area Member states stand ready to complement such reserves through a Special Purpose Vehicle that is guaranteed on a pro-rata basis by participating Member states in a co-ordinated manner and that will expire after three years, respecting their national constitutional requirements, up to a volume of E440 billion. The IMF will participate in financing arrangements and is expected to provide at least half as much as the EU contribution through its usual facilities in line with the recent programmes.’

B] Press Briefing by IMF First Deputy Managing Director, John Lipsky, 10/5/10 at the IMF, Washington:

QUESTION

‘But it doesn’t mean that you are setting aside 250 billion euros in case the Europeans would come to you?’

MR. LIPSKY

‘No.’

QUESTION

‘Can I just ask you, who came up with the 250? Was it the European [inaudible] or was it the IMF?’

MR. LIPSKY

‘Well, remember, we’ve never said 250, per se, like that. Right? This is …’

MR. LIPSKY (later)

‘We haven’t made any blanket commitment to provide X. It was simply – again – this is rather – I’m not trying to say it’s wrong. It’s a hypothetical or theoretical number that would say, if the mechanism was fully utilized and we can … and that we apportion funds or provide support in a proportion that we described, that it would imply a total. But this is not a matter of … we pledged x.’

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