At a minimum, it encourages the unsound structuring of their borrowing activity -- for example, through the USSR's tapping of Western interbank short-term deposits to fund medium-term purposes at home and abroad.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

Executive Branch slush-fund for medium-term loans to foreign governments.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center for Security Policy | How Bill Clinton Proposes To Spend The ��Surplus��: Bailing Out Foreign Governments �� And Their Western Underwriters

John Lipsky, number two at the IMF, said this week that the euro is above the fund's medium-term valuation benchmark.

ECONOMIST: The Big Mac Index