As the news of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s sexual assault charges dominates the headlines, EU finance ministers prepare to meet without him to discuss the Greek debt crisis and Portugal’s financial bailout.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Dominique Strauss-Kahn will make his first appearance in a New York court on Monday afternoon, facing charges of sexual assault in a case that has rocked the worlds of finance and French politics.
International Monetary Fund managing director Strauss-Kahn, pivotal in global efforts to tame Europe’s debt crisis amid fears it could unleash new international financial market contagion, had been due at the talks that start from 1300 GMT.
Replaced by his number two, John Lipsky as acting IMF head as he battles to clear his name, Strauss Kahn’s arrest- just as he was leaving to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel- saw the euro wobble and shares fall sharply in Asian trade.
The IMF said that deputy managing director Nemat Shafik will instead attend the talks in Brussels that run through until Tuesday.
The meeting is also expected to put pressure on Greece to step up its austerity measures to secure further emergency funding.
“For a few days at least, the market will likely suspect leadership paralysis at the IMF and also the euro has most to lose from this latest development” Gareth Berry, currency strategist at UBS, told Dow Jones.
(source: DW, afp)
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