IMF approves $36.8B loan for Portugal
WASHINGTON, May 21 (UPI) -- The International Monetary Fund said Saturday it has approved its share of a $110 billion rescue package for Portugal.
The IMF approved a $36.8 billion loan to help Portugal find some financial "breathing space from borrowing in the markets, while it demonstrates implementation of the policy steps needed to get the economy back on track," the IMF said in a statement.
Interim Managing Director John Lipsky said, "The Portuguese authorities have put forward a program that is economically well-balanced and has growth and job creation at its center," RIA Novosti reported.
"It addresses the fundamental problem in Portugal -- low growth -- with a policy mix based on restoring competitiveness through structural reforms, ensuring a balanced fiscal consolidation path, and stabilizing the financial sector," Lipsky said.
Portugal has proposed a program that includes raising taxes, slashing government spending and selling some government assets. It has also agreed to labor and justice reforms, RIA Novosti reported.
The rest of the $110 billion package is to come from the European Union.
Emerging countries lobby for IMF job
BRUSSELS, May 21 (UPI) -- The Group of 20 have agreed the next head of the International Monetary Fund should be chosen on merit, the Turkish ambassador to the Europe Union said.
"The EU has a very heavy weight and so has the United States. But emerging economies have increasing weight. This is precisely why this language was put in the G20 conclusions," said Ambassador Selim Kuneralp, the EUobserver reported.
The New York Times reported Saturday that the leading candidate from Turkey, economist Kemal Dervis, has said he would not accept the position, which the IMF board said would be filled by June 30.
"I have not been and I will not be a candidate," Dervis said.
The head of the IMF has traditionally come from Europe. Emerging nations, however, say shifting economic strengths should allow candidates from China, Russia, Brazil and elsewhere more consideration.
Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said, "A comprehensive selection should be held without defining the region from which the new IMF head should come."
Kudrin is backing Kazakh central bank chief Grigory Marchenko for the job.
Brazil's Finance Minister Guido Mantega wrote to the G20 that "we're beyond the point," of limiting candidates to those with European backgrounds. The head of the People's Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, has also said the selection process should take into consideration "changes in the global economy."
That hasn't stopped Europeans from stating their case.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that troubles with the euro and recent IMF involvement in bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal increase expectations that the next IMF leader should be European.
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has emerged as the most likely candidate for the position from Europe, the Times said.
In the United States, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he would accept a candidate with a broad background.
IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned this week following his arrest in New York for sexual assault and attempted rape.
Snow kept skiers away in California
SACRAMENTO, May 21 (UPI) -- The number of skiers hitting California slopes was down last winter because heavy snow closed mountain roads, a trade association says.
The California Ski Industry Association said the worst storms occurred at the worst times, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. A lot of snow fell as the Christmas holiday got under way, with more in March.
About 7.1 million skiers and snowboarders made it to resorts this year, a 12 percent drop in attendance.
"Had the snow fallen in the right times, it would have been a sensational season," said Bob Roberts, the association's director. "It was a challenging year."
Before the winter began, meteorologists predicted it would be a dry one. Instead, a total of 65 feet fell on Interstate 80 near Lake Tahoe, 30 feet more than the previous winter.
Gov. Jerry Brown declared a three-year drought over after reports the snowpack in the Sierras was at 165 percent of normal.
That was little consolation for ski resort operators.
"The timing of the storms this year was very unfortunate," said Chris Riddle, a spokesman for Bear Mountain and Snow Summit. "Every time a storm came through, it was a Friday or a Saturday."
Tokyo subways to install WiMax system
TOKYO, May 21 (UPI) -- Japanese commuter train operators said high-speed WiMax service would be available on Tokyo subway systems sometime in early 2012.
Broadband service company UQ Communications Inc. is to pay for the installation of the service in an agreement reached with the Tokyo Metropolitan government and Tokyo Metro Co., Kyodo News reported Saturday.
The service is expected to make wireless connections available on all moving subways in the city, extending a service that is now available only on train platforms.
