David Nuttall
Main Page: David Nuttall (Conservative - Bury North)Department Debates - View all David Nuttall's debates with the HM Treasury
(13 years ago)
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Mr Baron
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The IMF is an integral part of the rescue package for the eurozone, but that is something that the Government are, at least publicly, not willing to acknowledge, which is very wrong indeed.
I question why the IMF is getting involved in these bail-outs. The eurozone is a currency union. If a state within the United States got into trouble, the IMF would not be expected to ride to the rescue. The same should be true of the eurozone. I contend that Greece is not economically sovereign: it has no central bank, it cannot set interest rates, it has no currency, and it cannot devalue. I would go so far as to question whether Greece is even politically sovereign. At least in the United States, the people can elect the governor of individual states. That is not happening in Greece and Italy. In some cases, we do not even have a Government.
Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)
My hon. Friend refers to the possibility of an American state finding itself in financial difficulties. Of course that has already happened in California. Can he confirm that, in those circumstances, the IMF was not involved and was not able to contribute?
Mr Baron
That is absolutely right. My hon. Friend reinforces my point. The US is a currency union and the IMF is not expected to ride to the rescue there, yet it is expected to ride to the rescue of countries in the eurozone, which is also a currency union. That is completely wrong.