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[PEN-L:1291] Russia: Duma rejects IMF

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Duma leader urges monetary emission and rejects IMF "diktat"

Fri 28 Aug 98 - 04:27 GMT
MOSCOW, Aug 28 (AFP) - The president of the Russian parliament, the
communist Gennady Seleznev, called in an interview Friday for the
government to print more money and ignore what he called the "diktat" of
the International Monetary Fund.

Seleznev said a "moderate and controlled" emission of between 30 and 50
billion rubles was indispensable to stimulate Russian enterprises. Half
of the new notes would stay in state coffers anyway in the form of
taxes, he said.

The Duma speaker, interviewed by Interfax said the monetary mass in
rubles represented only 4.0 percent of gross national product, whereas
this proportion was far greater in all developed countries.

"And the government of (Viktor) Chernomyrdin and that of (Sergei)
Kiriyenko followed the harmful monetarist policy (initiated by former
prime minister) of Yegor Gaidar during which Russian firms received no
help from the state," Seleznev charged.

"There has been no industrial policy," he said.

Loans granted to Russia by international financial institutions, were
"in part invested in loss-making sectors and in part embezzled," said
Seleznev, an influential member of the Communist Party.

He said he supported collaboration with the IMF and other international
financial bodies to resolve Russia's unprecedented financial crisis, but
"for us it is unacceptable that they should dictate their conditions to
us".

Seleznev also took a jibe at President Boris Yeltsin's special envoy to
international financial institutions, Anatoly Chubais - the man most
Russian legislators love to hate.

Chubais "is one of the most dishonest people in Russia. The West still
trusts him but he is a wheeler-dealer who has no right to be looking for
money for Russia," Seleznev said.

Chubais, who enjoys the confidence of international financial circles,
negotiated in July a special stabilisation package for Russia with the
IMF and other financial institutions.

Seleznev said the Duma would only ratify Yeltsin's choice of Viktor
Chernomyrdin as new prime minister if Yeltsin accepted proposals from a
joint government-parliamentary commission to curb the sweeping powers of
the president and agreed to a list of economic and social priorities
drawn up by the Duma.

If Yeltsin refused, Chernomyrdin would not receive parliamentary
endorsement "even under threat of a dissolution of the Duma", Seleznev
said.

On Thursday, the Kremlin described as "excessive" the commission's
proposals to limit presidential powers, though it did not reject them
outright.

The economic measures advocated by the commission; emitting more money,
nationalisations, support for Russian productors and protection for
monopolies, are in complete contradiction to the programme which the
previous government put together with the IMF.

Chernomyrdin himself said Thursday that his first tast would be stop the
headlong fall of the ruble. He appeared to have ruled out a monetary
emisssion for the time being.

Seleznev, told Interfax that he "did not doubt" that when it met in the
autumn the Duma would rally the majority needed to oust Yeltsin "at
least on one of the charges - starting the war in Chechnya".

The Duma has failed several times to secure the majority required by the
constitution to unseat the president.

The Kremlin on Thursday issued a statement denying a report by the US
television channel CBS that Yeltsin was preparing to resign.
--
Gregory Schwartz
Dept. of Political Science
York University
4700 Keele St.
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 1P3
Canada

Tel: (416) 736-5265
Fax: (416) 736-5686
Web: http://www.yorku.ca/dept/polisci


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<HTML>

<H3>
<FONT FACE="Arial,Helvetica">Duma leader urges monetary emission and rejects
IMF "diktat"</FONT></H3>
<FONT FACE="Arial,Helvetica"><FONT SIZE=-1>Fri 28 Aug 98 - 04:27 GMT</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#BB0000">MOSCOW, Aug 28 (AFP) - </FONT>The president of
the Russian parliament, the communist Gennady Seleznev, called in an interview
Friday for the government to print more money and ignore what he called
the "diktat" of the International Monetary Fund.

<P>Seleznev said a "moderate and controlled" emission of between 30 and
50 billion rubles was indispensable to stimulate Russian enterprises. Half
of the new notes would stay in state coffers anyway in the form of taxes,
he said.

<P>The Duma speaker, interviewed by Interfax said the monetary mass in
rubles represented only 4.0 percent of gross national product, whereas
this proportion was far greater in all developed countries.

<P>"And the government of (Viktor) Chernomyrdin and that of (Sergei) Kiriyenko
followed the harmful monetarist policy (initiated by former prime minister)
of Yegor Gaidar during which Russian firms received no help from the state,"
Seleznev charged.

<P>"There has been no industrial policy," he said.

<P>Loans granted to Russia by international financial institutions, were
"in part invested in loss-making sectors and in part embezzled," said Seleznev,
an influential member of the Communist Party.

<P>He said he supported collaboration with the IMF and other international
financial bodies to resolve Russia's unprecedented financial crisis, but
"for us it is unacceptable that they should dictate their conditions to
us".

<P>Seleznev also took a jibe at President Boris Yeltsin's special envoy
to international financial institutions, Anatoly Chubais - the man most
Russian legislators love to hate.

<P>Chubais "is one of the most dishonest people in Russia. The West still
trusts him but he is a wheeler-dealer who has no right to be looking for
money for Russia," Seleznev said.

<P>Chubais, who enjoys the confidence of international financial circles,
negotiated in July a special stabilisation package for Russia with the
IMF and other financial institutions.

<P>Seleznev said the Duma would only ratify Yeltsin's choice of Viktor
Chernomyrdin as new prime minister if Yeltsin accepted proposals from a
joint government-parliamentary commission to curb the sweeping powers of
the president and agreed to a list of economic and social priorities drawn
up by the Duma.

<P>If Yeltsin refused, Chernomyrdin would not receive parliamentary endorsement
"even under threat of a dissolution of the Duma", Seleznev said.

<P>On Thursday, the Kremlin described as "excessive" the commission's proposals
to limit presidential powers, though it did not reject them outright.

<P>The economic measures advocated by the commission; emitting more money,
nationalisations, support for Russian productors and protection for monopolies,
are in complete contradiction to the programme which the previous government
put together with the IMF.

<P>Chernomyrdin himself said Thursday that his first tast would be stop
the headlong fall of the ruble. He appeared to have ruled out a monetary
emisssion for the time being.

<P>Seleznev, told Interfax that he "did not doubt" that when it met in
the autumn the Duma would rally the majority needed to oust Yeltsin "at
least on one of the charges - starting the war in Chechnya".

<P>The Duma has failed several times to secure the majority required by
the constitution to unseat the president.

<P>The Kremlin on Thursday issued a statement denying a report by the US
television channel CBS that Yeltsin was preparing to resign.
<BR>--
<BR>Gregory Schwartz
<BR>Dept. of Political Science
<BR>York University
<BR>4700 Keele St.
<BR>Toronto, Ontario
<BR>M3J 1P3
<BR>Canada

<P>Tel: (416) 736-5265
<BR>Fax: (416) 736-5686
<BR>Web: <A HREF="http://www.yorku.ca/dept/polisci";>http://www.yorku.ca/dept/polisci</A>
<BR>&nbsp;</HTML>

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