Brady Blasts Soviet Bid to Join the IMF

Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady blasted Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev on Wednesday for his surprise decision to apply for full membership in the leading Western international economic organizations: the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Brady complained to reporters that the Soviet decision flies in the face of an agreement reached among the major Western powers at the London economic summit last week to restrict the Soviet Union to a special associate affiliation.

“We were completely surprised, totally surprised, whatever adjective you want to use,” Brady said.

“I’m worried by the counterproductive nature of their request” for membership, he continued. “It is harder (for the United States) to help them now than before they did this.”

Japan has joined the United States in strongly opposing Soviet membership in the international organizations, while some European nations, most notably Germany, have taken a softer line.

The Bush Administration has argued that the Soviet economy is in such a mess that the nation is not yet ready to join the industrial world’s major lending institutions.

But the Administration’s real concern seems to be that giving the Soviets full membership in the lending organizations might place greater pressures on the United States to grant the Soviets more direct aid to help solve their internal economic problems.