Fund chief defends her Bali junket after quake
tHe head of the international Monetary Fund has defended holding a week-long conference in the luxury indonesian resort of Bali.
Christine lagarde said iMF staff would donate at least £100,000 to help with recovery efforts after a tsunami, triggered by an earthquake elsewhere in indonesia, killed at least 2,000 locals.
She added that the fund’s annual meeting is an opportunity to show off the country to the world, and cancelling it in the wake of the disaster would have been a waste of money.
the week of talks will see world leaders, top economists and central bankers rub shoulders at the Bali international Convention Centre, which features seven restaurants and bars offering 24-hour service.
nestled in nusa Dua in southern Bali, it is linked to a 334-room hotel arranged around a swimming pool. the complex backs directly on to a sandy beach surrounded by tropical coral reefs.
On a visit to Bali’s neighbouring island lombok, lagarde said: ‘three years ago, when we decided to organise our 2018 annual meetings here in indonesia, we did not know the country would be hit by these terrible natural disasters.
‘What we did know was that indonesia would be the best place to hold our annual meetings. And indonesia remains the best place. Cancelling was not an option because that would be a tremendous waste of the resources that had been committed over the past three years and lose the great opportunity to showcase indonesia to the world, and to create opportunities and jobs.’
the 62-year-old, who expressed her deepest sympathies for the victims of the disaster, earns a tax- free salary of more than £379,000 a year, plus a £68,000 supplement to maintain a standard of living equal to the job.
in addition, the iMF – which is funded by taxpayers around the world – covers all ‘reasonable’ work expenses and pays for firstclass travel on all trips.
A former French politician, lagarde was convicted of negligence last year in a corruption trial in Paris but let off without punishment and allowed to keep her job. Predecessor Dominique Strauss-Kahn, also French, was forced to step down in 2011 after allegations of sexual assault against a hotel maid which he eventually settled out of court.
Spaniard Rodrigo Rato, who held the post before StraussKhan, had a four-and-a-halfyear sentence for embezzlement while running Spanish banks confirmed by the country’s supreme court last week.