Economist Frederic Emam Zade writes in his Saturday column
\nin the El Caribe newspaper that the government outsmarted the business community
\nwith the signing of the IMF agreement. Emam Zade explains that the business
\nsector favored the signing of the IMF agreement so as to oblige the government
\nto control its spending. In a parody of what was going on behind scenes, Emam
\nZade writes that the government ministers applied a jujitsu technique to the
\nbusiness sector and instead of resisting the pressure to sign with the IMF, used
\nit against the sector in favor of the government. He explained that the
\ngovernment knew it would be its own ministers that would be doing the
\nnegotiating and could keep confidential what would be required of the business
\nand population in general. The parody also explained the government resorted to
\nthe divide-and-conquer sector, promising some business segments benefits, and
\nsaying that the IMF demanded a 14% increase in taxes, not 5%, so as to appear as
\nthe saviors when only levying the 5% tax. Furthermore, the strategy would be to
\nspread the word that if the 5% on exports were not levied, then the power bill
\nwould have to be increased, thus the business sector would be the bad guys.
\nThe parody ends with the statement:
\n?I can imagine that now many of those who pressured us to negotiate with the IMF
\nare sorry. The businessmen wanted to discipline the government and now they have
\nbeen punished with more taxes and silenced. They wanted to put a straightjacket
\non the government, and they ended up with their own belt tightened. And they
\neven helped us to get US$1.2 billion loan just right before the opening of the
\nelectoral campaign!?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Economist Frederic Emam Zade writes in his Saturday column in the El Caribe newspaper that the government outsmarted the business community with the signing of the IMF agreement. Emam Zade explains that the business sector favored the signing of the IMF agreement so as to oblige the government to control its spending. In a parody … <\/p>\n