MF Revamps Loans for Countries Facing Price Shocks, Disasters
September 19, 2008
Aims to provide assistance faster, in larger amounts, to low-income countries
Streamlines policy commitments made by borrower governments
Intended to help address commodity price changes, disasters, conflicts
The IMF adopted reforms of a loan program designed to help low-income countries cope with emergencies caused by events beyond their control.
Revision of the Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF) aims to provide assistance more quickly, and in larger amounts, to help low-income IMF members cope with events such as commodity price changes (including oil), natural disasters, and conflicts and crises in neighboring countries that disrupt trade.
The revamp, approved by the Executive Board September 19, also streamlined the conditionality—commitments that borrower governments make on their economic and financial policies—attached to the ESF. The modifications respond to the request from ministers at the IMF's 2008 Spring Meetings.
Surging food, fuel prices
The ESF was established two years ago to enhance the Fund's ability to help low-income member countries deal with sudden and exogenous shocks. Review of the ESF to make it easier and faster for members to receive the Fund's support has been accelerated in light of experience and the recent worsening of global economic conditions, in particular with the recent episode of surging food and fuel prices that have hit low-income countries particularly hard, an IMF spokesman said.
Key features of the modified ESF include
• Creation of a new rapid-access component under which a country could access fairly quickly, up to 25 percent of its quota for each exogenous shock, with resources normally being provided in a single disbursement. This component could be used on a stand-alone basis or as a first step towards higher access.
• A high-access component, along the lines of the current ESF, with access up to 75 percent of quota for each arrangement in normal circumstances. Resources would be provided in multiple disbursements based on reviews. This component could be used following a rapid-access component, or on a stand-alone basis.
• Conditionality and requirements for access to ESF financing have been streamlined. Under the rapid access component the member would need only to commit to appropriate policies to address the shock, and in exceptional cases, to take targeted upfront measures. Under the high-access component an economic program of upper credit tranche quality would be needed.
• The ability to be used more flexibly in conjunction with other Fund facilities and instruments, for example, with a Policy Support Instrument (PSI).
• Maintaining a focus on the impact of the shock and the related policies on the poor in program design, while dropping the requirement for a Poverty Reduction Strategy.
What is a Bio diesel?
According to Wikipedia, Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl (methyl, propyl or ethyl) esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids (e.g., vegetable oil, animal fat (tallow)) with an alcohol.
Biodiesel is meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the vegetable and waste oils used to fuel converted diesel engines. Biodiesel can be used alone, or blended with petrodiesel.
What is Exogenous Shocks Facility?
The Exogenous Shocks Facility- High Access Component (ESF-HAC)
The Exogenous Shocks Facility-High Access Component (ESF-HAC), which was established in 2008, provides concessional financing to PRGT-eligible countries facing balance of payments needs caused by sudden and exogenous shocks. As part of a broader reform to make the Fund’s financial support more flexible and better tailored to the diverse needs of LICs, the ESF-HAC has been superseded by the Standby Credit Facility (SCF). Existing ESF-HAC arrangements will remain in effect until their expiration or cancellation. Current ESF-HAC terms will also continue to apply to these arrangements.
Access is determined on a case-by-case basis. The ESF-HAC provides access up to 150 percent of quota for each arrangement in normal circumstances. Resources are provided in phased disbursements based on reviews, and programs are one-to-two years in length.
The country’s economic program under the ESF should be focused on adjustment to the underlying shock, with less emphasis on the broad structural adjustment that often characterizes other IMF-supported programs. The ESF could be used concurrently with the Policy Support Instrument (PSI).
ESF loans carry a zero annual interest rate until 2011, with repayments made semiannually, beginning 5½ years and ending 10 years after the disbursement. The Fund reviews the level of interest rates for all concessional facilities every two years.
Diversity Visa Lottery 2011 (DV-2011) Results
1) Ghana:6002
2) Nigeria: 6000
3) Ethiopia:5200
The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg , Kentucky United States
Applicants registered for the DV-2011 program were selected at random from over 12.1 million qualified entries (16.5 million with derivatives) received during the 60-day application period that ran from noon on October 2, 2009, until noon, November 30, 2009. The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.
Registrants living legally in the United States
Only participants in the DV-2011 program who were selected for further processing have been notified. Those who have not received notification were not selected. They may try for the upcoming DV-2012 lottery if they wish. The dates for the registration period for the DV-2012 lottery program will be widely publicized during August 2010.
* The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program. The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000.
The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign-state chargeability of those registered for the DV-2011 program:
| | |||||
| | 1,753 | | 5,200 | | 89 |
| | 55 | | 41 | | 6,000 |
| | 508 | | 72 | | 204 |
| | 13 | | 6,002 | | 0 |
| | 183 | | 701 | | 427 |
| | 72 | | 5 | | 4 |
| | 3,674 | | 4,689 | SIERRA LEONE | 3,911 |
| | 26 | | 11 | | 201 |
| CENTRAL AFRICAN REP. | 18 | | 1,826 | | 963 |
| | 59 | | 114 | | 1,156 |
| | 7 | | 55 | | 4 |
| | 144 | | 33 | | 174 |
| | 2,575 | | 88 | | 1,011 |
| COTE | 759 | | 25 | | 132 |
| | 45 | | 61 | | 490 |
| | 4,251 | | 2,003 | | 0 |
| EQUATORIAL | 13 | | 2 | ZAMBIA | 128 |
| ERITREA | 851 | NAMIBIA | 13 | ZIMBABWE | 163 |
| ASIA | |||||
| AFGHANISTAN | 97 | ISRAEL | 129 | OMAN | 3 |
| BAHRAIN | 15 | JAPAN | 298 | QATAR | 9 |
| BANGLADESH | 5,999 | JORDAN | 136 | SAUDI ARABIA | 91 |
| BHUTAN | 5 | NORTH KOREA | 2 | SINGAPORE | 35 |
| BRUNEI | 5 | KUWAIT | 88 | SRI LANKA | 515 |
| BURMA | 367 | LAOS | 3 | SYRIA | 132 |
| CAMBODIA | 434 | LEBANON | 214 | TAIWAN | 365 |
| HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMIN. REGION | 43 | MALAYSIA | 133 | THAILAND | 77 |
| INDONESIA | 205 | MALDIVES | 4 | TIMOR-LESTE | 0 |
| IRAN | 2,819 | MONGOLIA | 279 | UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | 66 |
| IRAQ | 147 | NEPAL | 2,189 | YEMEN | 95 |
| EUROPE | |||||
| ALBANIA | 1,469 | - New Caledonia | 9 | NETHERLANDS | 139 |
| ANDORRA | 0 | - Reunion | 0 | - Aruba | 6 |
| ARMENIA | 1,268 | - St. Pierre & Miquelon | 0 | - Netherlands Antilles | 16 |
| AUSTRIA | 147 | GEORGIA | 699 | NORTHERN IRELAND | 38 |
| AZERBAIJAN | 355 | GERMANY | 1,895 | NORWAY | 66 |
| BELARUS | 1,104 | GREECE | 62 | PORTUGAL | 61 |
| BELGIUM | 94 | HUNGARY | 272 | - Macau Special Admin. Region | 5 |
| BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA | 67 | ICELAND | 48 | ROMANIA | 821 |
| BULGARIA | 950 | IRELAND | 201 | RUSSIA | 2,464 |
| CROATIA | 97 | ITALY | 450 | SAN MARINO | 0 |
| CYPRUS | 11 | KAZAKHSTAN | 370 | SERBIA | 327 |
| CZECH REPUBLIC | 111 | KOSOVO | 134 | SLOVAKIA | 125 |
| DENMARK | 66 | KYRGYZSTAN | 196 | SLOVENIA | 14 |
| - Greenland | 1 | LATVIA | 122 | SPAIN | 219 |
| ESTONIA | 72 | LIECHTENSTEIN | 1 | SWEDEN | 187 |
| FINLAND | 87 | LITHUANIA | 262 | SWITZERLAND | 195 |
| FRANCE | 767 | LUXEMBOURG | 3 | TAJIKISTAN | 257 |
| - French Guiana | 0 | MACEDONIA | 263 | TURKEY | 2,266 |
| - French Polynesia | 13 | MALTA | 1 | TURKMENISTAN | 135 |
| - French Southern & Antarctic Lands | 1 | MOLDOVA | 894 | UKRAINE | 6,000 |
| - Guadeloupe | 0 | MONACO | 0 | UZBEKISTAN | 5,091 |
| - Martinique | 0 | MONTENEGRO | 5 | VATICAN CITY | 0 |
| NORTH AMERICA | |
| BAHAMAS, THE | 18 |
| OCEANIA | |||||
| AUSTRALIA | 683 | NAURU | 7 | SOLOMON ISLANDS | 3 |
| - Christmas Island | 0 | NEW ZEALAND | 333 | TONGA | 51 |
| - Cocos Islands | 0 | - Cook Islands | 0 | TUVALU | 4 |
| FIJI | 476 | - Niue | 8 | VANUATU | 1 |
| KIRIBATI | 9 | PALAU | 2 | WESTERN SAMOA | 13 |
| MARSHALL ISLANDS | 6 | PAPUA NEW GUINEA | 4 | | |
| MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF | 0 | SAMOA | 0 | | |
| SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN | |||||
| ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA | 1 | DOMINICA | 29 | SAINT LUCIA | 27 |
| ARGENTINA | 134 | GRENADA | 5 | SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES | 21 |
| BARBADOS | 12 | GUYANA | 36 | SURINAME | 9 |
| BELIZE | 12 | HONDURAS | 61 | TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO | 145 |
| | 90 | | 74 | | 23 |
| | 63 | | 31 | | 752 |
| | 50 | | 14 | | |
| | 406 | | 6 | | |
Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2011: Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born, excluding Hong Kong S.A.R. and Taiwan), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
Hair Flair Salon
(At the Woodner)
3636 16th St. NW Suite BG-30
Washington, DC 20010
W. 202 248 3809 C 202 361 7744
3636 16th St. NW Suite BG-30
Washington, DC 20010
W. 202 248 3809 C 202 361 7744
Fasil Ethiopian Restaurant
1608 7th St. N.W. Washington DC 20001
202 232 1608
Happy Hour (5 to 9 PM)
202 232 1608
Happy Hour (5 to 9 PM)
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