Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Spot The Common Theme: Prostitution Scandals, Kickbacks And Money Laundering
April 16, 2015 by Infinite
If you said these are all things that current or former IMF heads are or have been accused of, you are 100% correct.
– Spot The Common Theme: Prostitution Scandals, Kickbacks And Money Laundering (ZeroHedge, April 16, 2015):
First it was DSK with his 'frequent' sex-parties, rape charges, and pimpin' hookers.
Ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) – who denies charges of pimping – has told a court in northern France that prosecutors had greatly exaggerated the frequency of his "licentious evenings." In fact, as The BBC reports, DSK explained (with a straight face) that he took part in only a few rare sex parties – "only 12 parties the last 3 years."
As he took the stand on Tuesday, Mr Strauss-Kahn said: "I committed no crime, no offence."
"The prosecution gives the impression of unbridled activity," he told the court. But, he added: "There were only 12 parties in total – that is four per year over three years."
Then came Christine Lagarde's corruption and kickbacks scandal.
In 2008, Lagarde decided to allow an arbitration to end a dispute between Bernard Tapie, a businessman and supporter of then President Nicolas Sarkozy, and former state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais. Lagarde, who was put under investigation for "negligence" by the Cour de Justice de la Republique, denied any wrongdoing, saying it was the best option for the state.
Read moreSpot The Common Theme: Prostitution Scandals, Kickbacks And Money Laundering
Categories Global News Tags Christine Lagarde, Crime, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Global News, IMF, Rodrigo Rato Leave a comment
Former IMF Head: 'I Only Had 12 Sex Parties In Three Years'
February 10, 2015 by Infinite
– Former IMF Head: "I Only Had 12 Sex Parties In Three Years" (ZeroHedge, Feb 10, 2015):
As The BBC reports,
Mr Strauss-Kahn is accused of helping procure sex workers for a prostitution ring based at a hotel in Lille.
He has argued that he did not know the women were prostitutes.
Although using prostitutes is not illegal in France, supplying them or assisting in supplying them is. Prosecutors have been quoted as saying Mr Strauss-Kahn, 65, played a pivotal role in facilitating the orgies, describing him as the "party king".
Read moreFormer IMF Head: 'I Only Had 12 Sex Parties In Three Years'
Categories Global News, Society Tags Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Global News, IMF, Sex, Society Leave a comment
Disgraced Jewish ex-IMF chief goes on trial for 'pimping'
February 3, 2015 by Infinite
H/t reader squodgy:
"Where does he get his libido from….do they sell it or is it just viagra?"
– Disgraced Jewish ex-IMF chief goes on trial for 'pimping' (The Ugly Truth, Feb 2, 2015):
Once considered a likely candidate for French president, Dominique Strauss-Kahn in court over alleged prostitution ring
The sexual proclivities of ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn come under the spotlight again Monday when he goes on trial in France for "pimping" four years after a sex scandal cost him a shot at the presidency.
The disgraced 65-year-old economist finds himself back in the dock — this time in the northern French city of Lille — accused of being part of a prostitution ring used by his entourage to organize sex parties for him in Brussels, Paris and Washington.
Read moreDisgraced Jewish ex-IMF chief goes on trial for 'pimping'
Categories Global News, Society Tags Crime, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Global News, Society Leave a comment
Former IMF Head's Hedge Fund Goes Bankrupt After Partner Suicide, Fraud
November 7, 2014 by Infinite
– Former IMF Head's Hedge Fund Goes Bankrupt After Partner Suicide, Fraud (ZeroHedge, Nov 6, 2014):
It there is a better anecdote for everything the IMF stands for than the hedge fund of its former head, disgraced Dominique Strauss-Khan, going broke days after his partner, Thierry Leyne, 49, commits suicide in Tel Aviv under mysterious circumstances as reported previously, and subsequent revelations exposing at least one instance of fraud at the financial firm, we have yet to hear it.
former International Monetary Fund President Dominique Strauss-Kahn
seen here at a film festival in France in September: EPA
And while the tragic story of Thierry Leyne's untimely has been extensively circulated, what may be less known is that DSK's hedge fund may have imploded after a close encounter with a CYNK-like attempt to corner an illiquid company which however, blew up spectacularly in his face. The WSJ reported:
Read moreFormer IMF Head's Hedge Fund Goes Bankrupt After Partner Suicide, Fraud
Categories Global News Tags Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Economy, Global News, Society, Thierry Leyne Leave a comment
Operation Sarkozy : How The CIA Placed One Of Its Agents At The Presidency Of The French Republic
September 2, 2014 by Infinite
– Operation Sarkozy : how the CIA placed one of its agents at the presidency of the French Republic (Voltairenet, July 26, 2008):
Tired of the overextended presidencies of François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac, the French elected Nicolas Sarkozy counting on his energy to revitalize their country. They were hoping for a break with years of no-change and ideologies of the past. What they got instead was a break with the very principles which founded the French nation, and have been shocked by this "hyper-president", seizing every day a new dossier, attracting towards him the right and the left wing, and tearing apart all points of reference to the point of creating a total confusion.
Like children who have just made a boo-boo, the French are too busy trying to find excuses for themselves to admit the magnitude of the damages and of their naiveté, and they refuse all the more to see who Nicolas Sarkozy really is, that they realize they should have known since a long time who he was.
Read moreOperation Sarkozy : How The CIA Placed One Of Its Agents At The Presidency Of The French Republic
Categories Economy, Global News, Politics Tags CIA, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, EU, Europe, Global News, Government, IMF, MI6, NATO, Nicolas Sarkozy, Politics, U.S. Leave a comment
The CIA's Candidate: Sarkozy And The French Election (Video)
April 17, 2012 April 17, 2012 by Infinite
Presidents, Prime Ministers, Chancellors are all selected, not elected. They (Bush, Clinton, Obama, Blair, Brown, Cameron, Sarkozy, Kohl, Schröder, Merkel etc.) are all elite puppets serving their masters.
YouTube Added: 16.04.201
TRANSCRIPT AND SOURCES: http://www.corbettreport.com/?p=4502
As the French presidential election moves into its final stages, the French people are now reflecting on the nature of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency. Known by the French themselves as Sarko the American, what many do not know is that Sarkozy's family ties lead directly into the heart of the American political establishment. Find out more in this week's GRTV Backgrounder on Global Research TV.
Categories Global News, Politics, Society Tags Carlyle Group, CFR, CIA, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Economy, EU, Europe, France, Global News, Government, New World Order, Nicolas Sarkozy, Politics, Society, U.S. Leave a comment
Strauss-Kahn To Be Questioned About Prostitutes Orgies, Involving Police And Other Government Officials
– Strauss-Kahn questioned in prostitution case (Wall Street Journal, Feb. 22, 2012):
PARIS — Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was being held for questioning Tuesday by French police investigating a suspected hotel prostitution ring.
Strauss-Kahn, a one-time French presidential hopeful whose chances were derailed by a sexual assault accusation, arrived at the police station in the northern city of Lille for a pre-arranged morning appointment and was still there in the late afternoon.
Police are probing a suspected prostitution ring in France and neighboring Belgium that has implicated police and other officials. They have questioned prostitutes who said they had sex with Strauss-Kahn during 2010 and 2011 at a luxury hotel in Paris, a restaurant in the French capital and also in Washington, D.C.
French law permits police to question Strauss-Kahn for 48 hours, and then for another 48 hours with a judge's approval.
Strauss-Kahn lived in the U.S. capital while he was head of the IMF before resigning his position in May after he was charged by New York police with making a hotel maid perform oral sex. The charges were later dropped.
Two men with ties to Strauss-Kahn have been put under preliminary investigation in France on charges including organizing a prostitution ring and misuse of corporate funds.
Strauss-Kahn's name surfaced in the investigation last fall and his lawyer has asked that Strauss-Kahn be allowed to tell his side of the story. One of Strauss-Kahn's lawyers has said that the former French presidential hopeful never knew that the women at orgies he attended were prostitutes.
Read moreStrauss-Kahn To Be Questioned About Prostitutes Orgies, Involving Police And Other Government Officials
Categories Global News, Society Tags Belgium, Crime, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, France, Global News, Police, Sex, Society Leave a comment
IMF Head Dominique Strauss-Kahn Arrested For Sexual Assault In New York
May 15, 2011 by Infinite
French socialist's career in question following dramatic arrest at JFK airport and furore over lifestyle
Dominique Strauss-Kahn was taken off an Air France flight at JFK airport, having been accused of a sex attack on a hotel maid. Photograph: Larry Downing/Reuters
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund and the man French Socialists hope will be the next occupant of the Elysée Palace, was arrested at JFK airport in New York on Saturday afternoon accused of a sex attack on a Times Square hotel maid earlier in the day.
He was taken off an Air France flight by officers from the Port Authority of New York and turned over to Manhattan police, according to a spokesman from the agency. Plainclothes officers boarded the flight at 4.45pm, moments before take-off, and took the 62-year-old out of the first-class cabin and into custody. He had been due to meet German chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday.
"It was 10 minutes before its scheduled departure," said John Kelly, a Port Authority spokesman.
Port Authority officers were acting on information from the New York Police Department, whose detectives had been investigating a brutal alleged attack on a woman employee at the Sofitel New York on West 44th Street in the heart of the city's theatre district.
The 32-year-old woman told police that she entered Strauss-Kahn's room at about 1pm on Saturday and he emerged from the bedroom naked, threw her down and tried to sexually assault her, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. She broke free and escaped the room and told hotel staff what had happened who called the police.
When New York City police detectives arrived moments later, Strauss-Kahn had already left the hotel, leaving behind his mobile phone and other personal items. "It looked like he got out of there in a hurry," Browne added.
Read moreIMF Head Dominique Strauss-Kahn Arrested For Sexual Assault In New York
Categories Global News, Society Tags Crime, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF, Sex 1 Comment
World Bank Chief Calls For Modernised Monetary System
LONDON (Reuters) – World Bank chief Robert Zoellick urged big economies on Friday to modernise the global monetary system to be able to handle multiple major currencies.
In a guest column for the Financial Times, Zoellick said China's yuan should be given a bigger role within a restructured system, echoing remarks made last week by the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Many officials support the idea in principle of the yuan becoming part of the Special Drawing Rights (SDR), a basket of currencies administered by the IMF, but say that is unlikely to happen unless it becomes fully convertible.
"The U.S. dollar will remain the predominant reserve currency (ROFL!), but over time the world economy will need to manage a system of multiple major currencies," Zoellick wrote ahead of Friday's meeting in Paris of finance chiefs from the Group of 20 rich and developing nations.
Read moreWorld Bank Chief Calls For Modernised Monetary System
Categories Economy, Global News Tags Dollar, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Economy, Global News, IMF, Robert Zoellick, World Bank Leave a comment
Spain: The New Crisis In Euroland
June 17, 2010 by Infinite
European leaders meet in Brussels today amid growing fears that Spain, Europe's fifth-largest economy, is preparing to ask for a bailout which would dwarf the €110bn (£90bn) rescue plan for Greece.
The Spanish government yesterday dismissed reports that it was already in discussions with the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and the US Treasury for a rescue package worth up to €250bn.
Officials in Madrid, Brussels and Paris were forced to deny that a Spanish bailout – which would take the European debt and euro crisis into a potentially dangerous new phase – was on the Brussels summit agenda.
"Spain is a country that is solvent, solid and strong, with international credibility," said its Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The European Commission spokesman said: "I can firmly deny [that a Spanish rescue is under discussion]. I can say that that story is rubbish." (Sure!)
Brussels diplomats have been at pains to send out feel-good signals ahead of a summit in which Europe's leaders are supposed to take the first steps towards more disciplined and co-ordinated, control of national finances. Those reforms are meant to restore confidence in the euro and underpin the €750m EU and IMF safety-net, created last month for euroland countries that lose the confidence of the financial markets.
However, it is proving hard to shake off persistent market fears about Spain, which, if it needed a lifeline, would swallow up a large part of the emergency fund. Worryingly for the EU, the doubts about Spain – whether real or driven by speculation – are eerily similar to the gradual seeping away of confidence that sent Greece into a financial death spiral in March and April. The Spanish government's cost of borrowing hit a new record yesterday. The interest rate gap, or spread, between 10-year Spanish bonds and their German equivalents, rose by more than 0.10 of a point to 2.23 percentage points.
A senior Spanish banker, Francisco Gonzalez, chairman of the BBVA financial services group, confirmed that foreign private banks were now refusing to provide liquidity to their Spanish counterparts. "Financial markets have withdrawn their confidence in our country," he said. "For most Spanish companies and entities, international capital markets are closed."
As a result, the European Central Bank is said to have provided record amounts of liquidity to Spanish banks in recent days. The closure of bank-to-bank credit to Spanish institutions recalls to some market commentators the ripple of crisis through the global financial system after the fall of Lehman Brothers in the Autumn of 2008.
Read moreSpain: The New Crisis In Euroland
Categories Economy, Global News, Politics Tags Bailout, Banking, Debt, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, ECB, Economy, EU, Europe, Global News, Government, Greece, IMF, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Politics, Spain Leave a comment
IMF Head Dominique Strauss-Kahn Proposes New Reserve Currency
IMF's Strauss-Kahn suggests IMF may one day provide global reserve asset
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, suggested Friday the organization might one day be called on to provide countries with a global reserve currency that would serve as an alternative to the U.S. dollar.
"That day has not yet come, but I think it is intellectually healthy to explore these kinds of ideas now," he said in a speech on the future mandate of the 186-nation Washington-based lending organization.
Strauss-Kahn said such an asset could be similar to but distinctly different from the IMF's special drawing rights, or SDRs, the accounting unit that countries use to hold funds within the IMF. It is based on a basket of major currencies.
Read moreIMF Head Dominique Strauss-Kahn Proposes New Reserve Currency
Categories Economy, Politics Tags Dollar, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Economy, IMF, Politics Leave a comment
IMF: Second bailout would 'threaten democracy'
November 24, 2009 by Infinite
The public will not bail out the financial services sector for a second time if another global crisis blows up in four or five years time, the managing-director of the International Monetary Fund warned this morning.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn told the CBI annual conference of business leaders that another huge call on public finances by the financial services sector would not be tolerated by the "man in the street" and could even threaten democracy.
"Most advanced economies will not accept any more [bailouts]…The political reaction will be very strong, putting some democracies at risk," he told delegates.
"I do believe that the financial sector needs to contribute both to the costs of the financial crisis and to reduce recourse to public funds in the future," he said.
Mr Strauss-Kahn said that imposing high capital ratio requirements on banks was one price the financial services sector must pay to prevent the threat of further multi-billion dollar bailouts.
Read moreIMF: Second bailout would 'threaten democracy'
Categories Economy, Politics Tags Bailout, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Economy, Financial Crisis, IMF, Politics Leave a comment
IMF: 'Basket' should replace U.S. dollar as reserve currency
IMF chief sees basket currency eventually displacing dollar
BEIJING — The imperative of greater global currency stability means the world can no longer rely, as it has done since the end of the gold standard, on a currency issued by a single country, the head of the IMF said on Tuesday.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, restated his view that a new global currency might evolve out of the Special Drawing Right, the Fund's in-house unit of account.
"That probably has to be a basket," Strauss-Kahn said of the eventual replacement for the dollar. "In a globalised world there is no domestic solution," he told a forum.
Speaking later at a news conference, Strauss-Kahn reiterated the message that has been a constant refrain during his visit — that China needs a stronger yuan as part of a package of policies to help rebalance its economy by promoting domestic demand.
"For us, because it just is consistent with the new economic policy in China, the sooner the better. How fast? It will take time. It is not something which will change in one step overnight," Strauss-Kahn said.
China has kept the yuan, also known as the renminbi (RMB), pegged around 6.83 per dollar since July 2008, following a 21% rise over the previous three years, to help its exporters weather the global economic crisis.
Read moreIMF: 'Basket' should replace U.S. dollar as reserve currency
Categories Economy, Politics Tags China, Dollar, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Economy, IMF, Politics, U.S., Yuan Leave a comment
IMF approves sale of 403 tonnes gold reserves
September 19, 2009 by Infinite
This is not done to help poor countries.
Now the elite, that has created the crisis, can buy more 'cheap' gold.
Gordon Brown again!
– Gordon Brown's decision to sell half of the UK's gold reserves 'cost UK £5billion'
People will say Gordon Brown is just a terrible investor/market timer, but he is an elite puppet like Obama, Bush, Blair etc. working to establish the 'New World Order'.
– 19 Jan 2007: Brown wants a 'new world order' (BBC NEWS)
– 18 Mai 2007: Gordon Brown New World Order Speech (YouTube) (!)
– Jan 22, 2008: Brown's secret talks on 'new world order' (NZ Herald)
– Jan. 26, 2009: Gordon Brown sees 'New World Order' after crisis (AFP)
IMF approves $13bn gold sale to aid poor states
The International Monetary Fund has approved a sale of 403 metric tonnes of gold reserves, in a move likely to raise $13bn (£8bn) of cash to replenish its coffers for lending to low-income countries hit by the global economic downturn.
The sale amounts to roughly an eighth of the institution's stockpile of the precious metal and comes as gold prices hit record highs, boosted by investors seeking safety away from volatile stock markets.
Dominque Strauss-Kahn, the IMF's managing director, said sales would be conducted in a "responsible and transparent manner that avoids disruption to the gold market". Speaking after a meeting of the IMF's executive committee, he said the initiative would "put the financing of the IMF on a sound long-term footing and enable us to step up much needed concessional lending to the poorest countries".
Among those pushing for the IMF to raise funds was Gordon Brown, who urged his counterparts to agree a sale at a meeting of G20 countries in London in April.
Read moreIMF approves sale of 403 tonnes gold reserves
Categories Economy, Global News, Politics Tags Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Economy, G20, Global News, Gold, Gordon Brown, IMF, Politics Leave a comment
IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn warns second wave of countries will require bail-out
A "second wave" of countries will fall victim to the economic crisis and face being bailed out by the International Monetary Fund, its chief warned at the G7 summit in Rome.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn's warning comes amid growing concern that at some point in the next year a major economy could have to seek support from the Fund. Mr Strauss-Kahn, who was yesterday attending the Group of Seven leading finance ministers' meeting in Rome, said: "I expect a second wave of countries to come knocking."
IMF Says Advanced Economies Already in Depression (Bloomberg)
The IMF managing director also said the rich world was now in the midst of a "deep recession". It came as the G7 pledged to avoid slipping into protectionism and repeating the same political and economic mistakes as were made in the 1930s. Ministers also pledged to do more to support their banking systems, sparking speculation that a number of countries, including Germany and France, will unveil new bail-outs and possibly set up "bad banks" as they scramble to fight the crisis.
Read moreIMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn warns second wave of countries will require bail-out
Categories Economy, Politics Tags Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Economy, G7, IMF, Politics Leave a comment
IMF agrees $2.5bn for Belarus
January 1, 2009 by Infinite
Belarus has secured an emergency loan of $2.5bn (£1.74bn) from the International Monetary Fund.
It becomes the sixth country after Iceland, Hungary, Ukraine, Latvia, and Pakistan to need a rescue since the crisis began.
The ex-Soviet state – still run by strongman Alexander Lukashenko – has suffered a run on its foreign reserves as the economic downturn engulfs Eastern Europe. The country's key exports are potash fertilizer and oil products, both hit hard by the commodity crash.
The IMF's chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said the tough terms of the bail-out include "strict public-sector wage restraint" and cuts in state spending. Russia has pledged a further $2bn.#
Read moreIMF agrees $2.5bn for Belarus
Categories Economy, Politics Tags Bailout, Belarus, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Economy, IMF, Politics Leave a comment
IMF's warning to Britain: Bailouts will need to double to prevent economic collapse
December 21, 2008 by Infinite
With such people in top positions around the world … prepare for the worst.
Thanks to their debt and inflation creating policies they have assured that "The whole society is going to suffer." (IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn).
They are creating the worst depression ever.
'The whole society is going to suffer,' warns IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Billions more will have to be pumped into the economy to avoid it spiralling into an even 'darker' recession, the head of the International Monetary Fund has warned.
Britain and other leading economies will need to double their economic bailout packages during 2009, which is shaping up to be a 'really bad year', according to Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
'I'm specially concerned by the fact that our forecast, already very dark . . . will be even darker if not enough fiscal stimulus is implemented,' Mr Strauss-Kahn told BBC Radio 4.
The IMF, which oversees the world's economic system, is urging governments around the world to splurge a staggering £80trillion in a co-ordinated war against recession.
That would represent around 2 per cent of global annual economic output.
But Chancellor Alistair Darling's stimulus package accounts for just 1 per cent of Britain's national income.
Read moreIMF's warning to Britain: Bailouts will need to double to prevent economic collapse
Categories Economy, Politics Tags Alistair Darling, Bailout, Debt, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Economy, Government, IMF, Politics, Recession, U.K. Leave a comment
IMF may need to "print money" as crisis spreads
October 28, 2008 by Infinite
The International Monetary Fund may soon lack the money to bail out an ever growing list of countries crumbling across Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia, raising concerns that it will have to tap taxpayers in Western countries for a capital infusion or resort to the nuclear option of printing its own money.
IMF's work in countries such as Turkey is only just beginning
The Fund is already close to committing a quarter of its $200bn (£130bn) reserve chest, with a loans to Iceland ($2bn), Ukraine ($16.5bn), and talks underway with Pakistan ($14.5bn), Hungary ($10bn), as well as Belarus and Serbia.
Neil Schering, emerging market strategist at Capital Economics, said the IMF's work in the great arc of countries from the Baltic states to Turkey is only just beginning.
"When you tot up the countries across the region with external funding needs, you get to $500bn or $600bn very quickly, and that blows the IMF out of the water. The Fund may soon have to start calling on the West for additional funds," he said.
Brad Setser, an expert on capital flows at the Council for Foreign Relations, said Russia, Mexico, Brazil and India have together spent $75bn of their reserves defending their currencies this month, and South Korea is grappling with a serious banking crisis.
"Right now the IMF is too small to meet the foreign currency liquidity needs of the larger emerging economies. We're in a dangerous situation and there is the risk of extreme moves in the markets, as we have seen with the Brazilian real. I hope policy-makers understand how serious this is," he said.
The IMF, led by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has the power to raise money on the capital markets by issuing `AAA' bonds under its own name. It has never resorted to this option, preferring to tap members states for deposits.
The nuclear option is to print money by issuing Special Drawing Rights, in effect acting as if it were the world's central bank. This was done briefly after the fall of the Soviet Union but has never been used as systematic tool of policy to head off a global financial crisis.
"The IMF can in theory create liquidity like a central bank," said an informed source. "There are a lot of ideas kicking around."
Read moreIMF may need to "print money" as crisis spreads
Categories Economy, Politics Tags Bank for International Settlements, Bankruptcy, Belarus, Bonds, Central Bank, Debt, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Economy, Financial Crisis, GDP, Government, Hungary, Iceland, IMF, Liquidity, Pakistan, Politics, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Taxpayers, Turkey, Ukraine Leave a comment
IMF alert on starvation and civil unrest
October 11, 2008 April 15, 2008 by Infinite
"Children will be suffering from malnutrition" … a UN peacekeeper with locals in Port-au-Prince,
where hunger-provoked protests and looting have left six dead. Photo: AP
THE poorest countries face starvation and civil unrest if global food prices keep rising, says the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Hundreds of thousands of people would starve, he said in Washington. "Children will be suffering from malnutrition, with consequences for all their lives."
He predicted that rising food prices would push up the cost of imports for poor countries, leading to trade imbalances that might also affect developed nations.
"It is not only a humanitarian question," he said.
Global food prices have risen sharply in recent months, driven by rising demand, poor weather and an increase in the area of land used to grow crops for biofuels.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation says 37 countries face food crisis. The president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, urged members on Sunday to provide $US500 million ($540 million) by May 1 to help alleviate the problem.
Read moreIMF alert on starvation and civil unrest
Categories Economy, Environment, Politics Tags biofuel, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Civil Unrest, Dhaka, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, dying, Economy, Egypt, Environment, Food, Food Crisis, Food Prices, Food Riots, Food shortages, Haiti, IMF, International Monetary Fund, Jacques Edouard Alexis, malnutrition, Politics, poor countries, Port-au-Prince, rice, Robert Zoellick, starvation, World Bank, World Food Programme Leave a comment