Latin American Economy & Business - July 2013 (ISSN 1741-7430)

In September or October coming the US Supreme Court must consider whether to issue a ruling on a dispute over Argentina’s foreign debt. Under existing rules various institutions have the right to file a ‘friend of the court brief’, taking a position on the matter in hand, which is submitted for consideration by the Justices. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it was considering filing a brief supporting Argentina’s position. So did the US government. Then White House sources said they wouldn’t be filing a brief after all.  That caused the IMF to say that if the US wasn’t going to file, then it couldn’t possibly do so itself. At that point the French government said it was definitely filing. What’s going on?