Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath take part in the G-20 Dinner during the 2022 Annual Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.

IMF Photo/Eman Mohammed

12 October 2022

Washington, DC, United States

Photo ref: _I2A0799.jpg

The Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Philoptochos honored Archon Michael Psaros, Co-Founder

and Co-Managing Partner of KPS Capital Partners at its 64th Annual Chrysanthemum Ball on November

10 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City.

The invocation was delivered by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios assisted by Archdeacon Panteleimon

Papadopoulos. The guests were welcomed by Fr. John Vlahos, Dean of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the

Holy Trinity, Stella Pantelidis, co-chair of the ball and the Cathedral Philoptochos President Dr. Miranda

Kofinas. This year's honoree Michael Psaros was introduced by Maria Marinakis and Maro Stratakis.

Honored guests included Dr. Konstantinos Koutras, Consul General of Greece to New York, and his wife,

Popita Pavli, Ambassador Maria Theophili, Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN, Ambassador

Vasilios Philippou, Consul General of Cyprus to New York, and his wife Anthea, Jennifer Constantine,

Direct Archdiocesan District Philoptochos President, James Gianakis, Archdiocesan Cathedral Board of

Trustees President and Rev. Robert Stephanopoulos, Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral along with

Presvytera Nikki Stephanopoulos.

The Chrysanthemum Ball is the Holy Trinity Archdiocesan Cathedral Philoptochos’ main annual fundraising

event for its charitable activities.

PHOTO: © GOA/GANP/DIMITRIOS PANAGOS-GANP/ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗΣ ΠΑΝΑΓΟΣ

Managed to get out , nothing came close , this was quite pleasing however .

7D Firmware updated , 500mm fitted , camera resurrection

Camera Canon EOS 7D

Exposure 0.001 sec (1/1600)

Aperture f/7.1

Focal Length 700 mm

ISO Speed 640

Exposure Bias +4/3 EV

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks during the COP26 Leaders Summit “Building Resilience in a Changing Climate” at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.

IMF Photo/Crispin Rodwell

1 November 2021

Glasgow, Scotland

Photo ref: COP Monday 23.JPG

Managed by the St. George Field Office

Jackson Heights Historic District, Jackson Heights, Queens

About the historic district:

The Jackson Heights Historic District comprises the most cohesive part of an innovative residential development which was mostly built between the early 1910s and the early 1950s. This development reflects important changes in urban design and planning that took place in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Conceived, planned, built in part, and managed under the direction of a single real estate firm, the Queensboro Corporation, and its president Edward A. MacDougall, Jackson Heights is one of the earliest neighborhoods in New York to introduce two new building types, "garden apartments" and "garden homes." Commercial, institutional, recreational and transportation facilities were integrated with the residential buildings to create an alternative for middle-class residents to the then typical urban neighborhood.

Influenced in its planning and management by a number of sources including the "model tenement" or improved housing movement in New York City at the end of the nineteenth century and the "Garden City" movement at the beginning of this century, Jackson Heights generated both national and international interest.

Development of Jackson Heights was spurred by such transportation improvements as the opening of the Queensboro Bridge in 1909, the extension of the subway as far as Flushing (the elevated train line along Roosevelt Avenue opened in 1917), the construction of the Independent subway line in the 1930s, and the rapid growth of Long Island City as one of the city's largest manufacturing centers. Soon after acquiring an extensive tract of farmland in the Trains Meadow section of Newtown in northwest Queens in 1910, the Queensboro Corporation began to improve its property. The earliest projects located within the district are the row of houses (1911) by architect Charles Peck on the west side of 83rd Street just north of Roosevelt Avenue, and Laurel Court (1913-14, George H. Wells), the first apartment complex, located at the southeast corner of Jackson Avenue (now Northern Boulevard) and 82nd Street.

These buildings followed in the tradition of late nineteenth-century housing and provide the historical context for understanding the innovative nature of the Corporation's later work.

Following these early projects, the Queensboro Corporation initiated in Jackson Heights an important planning concept, developed from ideas and examples of the model housing movement of the nineteenth century, which involved the treatment of the rectangular block created by the street grid system as a single unit of planning and design, rather than as a collection of individual building lots to be developed independently. This design concept is seen in the area's "garden apartments" of the 1910s and 1920s, which are among New York's earliest examples of-this type of apartment house, and in the "garden homes," clusters of attached and semi-detached houses which were built after 1924.

Although a number of architects, worked for the Corporation, the two most influential in the evolution of the garden apartment type were George H. Wells and Andrew J. Thomas. The Greystone Apartments (1917-18) on 80th Street between 35th and 37th avenues, designed by Wells, mark a departure from the architect's earlier Laurel Court in the reduction of lot coverage and allocation of garden space. The buildings are arranged in rows on two facing blockfronts, creating uniform streetscapes of unbroken masonry facades along both sides of the street; continuous landscaped garden areas are provided at the rear of each blockfiront. A different planning scheme was introduced by Thomas with his design of Linden Court (1919-21), located on 84th and 85th streets between 37th and Roosevelt avenues. In this complex, the buildings are grouped into attached pairs; the building wall on the periphery of the block is interrupted at regular intervals by open 'space.

The interior of the block is an undivided landscaped space, held in common by means of easements and deed restrictions for the benefit of the residents. This type of plan creates cross ventilation, increased light, and views from the street to the landscaped garden, and encourages a sense of community. The idea of community was strengthened by the Corporation's introduction in 1919 of a plan for the cooperative ownership of the buildings in the garden apartment complexes. Other notable examples of this type of block treatment designed by Thomas include the Chateau (1922), on 80th and 81st streets south of 34th Avenue, and the Towers (1923), on the block directly to the north. Characteristic examples of Wells's garden apartment complexes include Hawthorne Court (1921-22), located on 76th and 77th streets between 35th and 37th avenues, and Cambridge Court (1922-23), located on 85th and 86th streets between 37th and Roosevelt avenues.

The garden apartment buildings in the district are executed in brick and are rendered in a number of architectural styles derived from French, English, Italian, and Spanish sources, generally combining simple facade treatments with such picturesque elements as loggias, belvederes, tile and slate roofs, and decorative brickwork. Their overall simplicity of design reflects the movement in the first decades of this century away from the extensive use of ornament which had been popular during the late nineteenth century. The apartment buildings were constructed with a number of features considered novel at the time such as automatic push-button elevators, sun porches, and, at Linden Court, ground-level garages.

With the exception of the group of houses built in 1911, the construction of single-family (and "convertible" two-family) houses in the district was begun in the 1924. The most prolific architects of houses within the district were Robert Tappan and C.F. & D.E. McAvoy, who applied some of the planning concepts of the "Garden City" movement to the design of homes in Jackson Heights. Based on English precedents from the beginning of the century, the ideas of the "Garden City" movement had been implemented in this country in such developments as Forest Hills Gardens (begun 1909, Grosvenor Atterbury and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.) and in government-sponsored developments of the World War I era. One result of these planning efforts was the "garden home," featuring an amalgam of up-to-date conveniences and traditional design.

The attached and semi-detached houses in Jackson Heights, whose design was derived largely from such English sources as Georgian and Tudor architecture, form picturesque ensembles distinguished by varied materials and roof treatments. The blocks containing the houses were, like the "garden apartments," treated as harmonious design units. The rows of attached houses are set back from the building line behind front yards and broken at regular intervals by broad open spaces into discrete groups of between four and eight houses each; the semi-detached houses are grouped into pairs. The open spaces provide a system for interior circulation and increased natural light similar to that of the garden apartment complexes. The spaces between the groups of houses also allow views from the street into the interior of the block, greatly increasing the sense of open space from the public street.

Garages were included either under the rear of the houses, allowing a block-long greensward at the interior of the block, or a paved alley was laid down the center of the block and lined with garages designed in the styles of the houses; the pairs of houses often have attached garages. Jackson Heights is one of New York's earliest communities in which residential buildings were designed with the automobile in mind.

Apartment buildings continued to be built in Jackson Heights during the 1930s and 1940s; many of the buildings from this period were constructed along 35th Avenue, terminating the ends of the street blocks. Largely six stories in height, these buildings are characterized by their consistent massing and demonstrate various planning schemes around lightcourts and courtyards. Like the earlier garden apartments, many of these buildings were designed with a modest application of traditional architectural features while others reflect more modernistic trends. Dunolly Gardens (Thomas, 1939), located on the block bounded by 34th and 35th avenues and 78th and 79th streets, is a later example of the characteristic garden apartment complex, yet given a modernistic architectural treatment. Following World War II, buildings were constructed on previously undeveloped lots within the district and these buildings show sensitivity to the existing community.

Siting, height, massing, scale, and materials of the post-war buildings harmonize with the earlier fabric of the area.

Institutional buildings such as houses of worship as well as commercial buildings were also built in Jackson Heights, enhancing the sense of a self-sufficient town within the larger city. The intersection of 37th Avenue, the commercial spine of the district, and 82nd Street, another important commercial street, is distinguished by a group of picturesque neo-Tudor style commercial buildings dating from between the World Wars. The district is among the earliest areas in the city in which the commercial thoroughfares were planned to complement and integrate with the residential buildings by using the same architectural styles or by incorporating features of adjoining residential buildings into their designs. Among the institutional buildings included within the district are a public school (P.S. 69, C.B.J. Snyder, 1924), a post office (Benjamin C. Flournoy, 1936-37), and a branch of the Queens Borough Public Library (S. Keller, 1949-52).

At one time, a broad mall was planted down the center of 34th Avenue which led to the community's country club, tennis courts, and golf course, all of which are no longer extant.

The Queensboro Corporation's planned community at Jackson Heights was recognized at the time of its development as one of New York's important centers of new housing concepts, particularly the "garden apartment," and many of the ideas and features explored there are now standard for middle-class housing. From the time of its development, Jackson Heights attracted middle-class families desiring a convenient, pleasant alternative to the typical urban neighborhood. Today, Jackson Heights continues to be a vibrant community which, because of its overall design, planning, and integration of open space, as well as its high degree of intactness, has a strongly defined sense of place.

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF JACKSON HEIGHTS

The Queensboro Corporation

During the years of economic expansion following World War I and the "boom" years of the 1920s, tracts of undeveloped land in the boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens were made easily accessible to Manhattan by the newly-completed, rapid transit facilities. The limitations which had hampered housing reformers, legislators, and developers in Manhattan no longer held in the undeveloped areas of the other boroughs, where some developers owned hundreds of acres of unimproved farmland. One of these development firms was the Queensboro Corporation.

After its formation in 1909 by a number of prominent Queens businessmen and realtors, including Edward A. MacDougall (1874-1944) who eventually assumed total control of the Corporation, and with the strong financial backing of the Weightman family of Philadelphia who were among the wealthiest and largest landowners in that city, the Queensboro Corporation assembled, between 1910 and 1914, approximately 350 acres of undeveloped land in the Trains Meadow section of Newtown in Queens, about five miles east of midtown Manhattan [Fig. 7]. The Corporation's land was considered ideal for profitable development because of recent transportation improvements in Queens and the growth of the manufacturing district in Long Island City (where the Corporation relocated its headquarters from midtown Manhattan after the opening of the Queensboro Bridge).

The Queensboro Corporation was deeply involved'in the extension of elevated rail service to the borough and in the municipal politics of the period. During the mayoralty campaign in 1917 between the incumbent Mayor John Purroy Mitchell and Judge John J. Hylan, Hylan charged that Mitchell, while he was President of the Board of Aldermen and therefore a voting member of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, was also the legal representative of the Queensboro Corporation and he personally put through the Board of Estimate the extension of the Corona subway so as to tap the Queensboro Corporation's property. He negotiated with other members of the Board to vote for the extension which had been opposed because it lay through a section practically uninhabited. Mr. Mitchell coralled enough votes to pass the extension and then, to keep the record straight so far as the minutes of the Board of Estimate were concerned, cast his vote against the extension.

Indeed, the Corporation's considerable political clout is evidenced by the five stations on or near the southern boundary of Queensboro's land. The syndicate proved to be successful not only in bringing the "subway to the cornfields" but also in the domain of promotion. In 1916, the Corporation began to publish the Jackson Heights News, a chronicle of local events which served as an advertising vehicle for Queensboro's developments and was primarily a promotional tool to lure prospective residents. The first broadcast of a radio commercial, aired on August 22, 1922, was one of four ten-minute advertisements for apartments in Jackson Heights.

Development History of Jackson Heights

The first few years of activity by the Queensboro Corporation concentrated on the construction of the infrastructure: grading the property; installing water, sewer, and electrical lines; and laying streets. In planning the streets through the property, the standard grid system used in Manhattan was adopted but the pitfall of the system — the long east-west orientation of the blocks - was avoided. At Jackson Heights, the long sides of the blocks are oriented on the north-south axis, which allows sunlight into both the front and rear of the buildings.

Initially, the Corporation intended to develop its property as a subdivision of concrete cottages, following a construction method proposed by Thomas A. Edison, but quickly abandoned this idea and began to sell its land in 100- by 100-foot parcels. The first speculative buildings in the district were the rowhouses, designed by Charles Peck and built in 1911 on 82nd and 83rd streets, just north of Roosevelt Avenue, by Charles E. Currier, president of the Jackson Heights Building Company. The rowhouses on 82nd Street have been demolished or altered for commercial purposes, but those on 83rd Street are still standing.

These two-story masonry buildings are examples of traditional rowhouse design and planning and indicate what the area might have looked like had the Corporation not shifted its efforts to apartment house construction, Queensboro was not directly involved in construction until 1913-14 when it erected a group of four five-story brick apartment houses, collectively known as Laurel Court, on the southeast corner of 82nd Street and Northern Boulevard near a stop on the then-existing trolley line to Manhattan [Fig. 9], Designed by George Henry Wells, who became one of the Corporation's principal apartment building architects, Laurel Court is a group of four multiple dwellings built according to die requirements of the 1901 Tenement House Act, which specified minimum dimensions for courtyards and rear yards and a maximum lot coverage of seventy percent.

Laurel Court was soon followed by Wells's Oban Court and Penrhyn Court (1914-15), Willow Court (1915), the Colonial Apartments (1915-16), and the Plymouth Apartments (1916), all of which were erected along 82nd Street, the main thoroughfare linking the trolley stop on Northern Boulevard and the elevated-line station on Roosevelt Avenue [Fig. 10]. Queensboro sought to capitalize on the need for housing for those commuting to work in the manufacturing concerns in Long Island City:

It was first thought that the majority of artisans [employed in Long Island City] would go back and forth to Manhattan, or else go to the older sections of Williamsburgh and Brooklyn. Up to the present time this has been the case, but last summer [in 1915] several new apartment houses were erected at Jackson Heights by the Queensboro Corporation, and so successful were the enterprises that six new buildings are now under construction and will be ready for the summer renting season. But this movement is only in its infancy and the present demand is far in excess of the supply, as was witnessed with the ease with which tenants were obtained for the structures as soon as completed.

As the 1910s progressed, the Corporation made some of its most important contributions to the planning, architecture, and development of the city by producing a new building type, the "garden apartment." With the Plymouth Apartments and Willow Court, Queensboro had proved that substantially reduced lot coverage (fifty-eight percent compared to the legal minimum of seventy percent) was a financially sound and profitable policy. Following this success, the Corporation began construction of Wells's Greystone Apartments in 1916, and, in 1917, announced plans for Linden Court, designed by Andrew Jackson Thomas, the second major architect to design apartment buildings for the corporation. With these two projects, Queensboro demonstrated the utility and profitability of whole-block designs featuring buildings with low lot coverage and incorporating a substantial amount of landscaped open space.

The new direction taken in Jackson Heights seems to have been at least partly influenced by similar work being done in Europe, and especially Germany, at about the same time. In 1914, members of the Corporation had traveled abroad to visit various housing developments and were said to have been particularly impressed by two projects in the Berlin suburb of Charlottenburg.14 Built between 1907 and 1909 to house civil servants, the projects were designed by Erich Kohn and Paul Mebes, the latter of whom became one of Germany's most influential architects between the two World Wars. Set in substantial open space, the contiguous "U"-shaped buildings have landscaped courtyards that alternately open to the north and south [Fig. 11].15

Queensboro pursued other innovations in the attempt to make its buildings desirable; it was among the first development firms in the city to make extensive use of the automatic push-button elevator in its low-rise apartments after the Building Code was changed in 1920 to permit them. At Linden Court, ground-level garages, a novelty at the time, were provided. In addition, beginning with Linden Court, Queensboro introduced a plan for cooperative ownership of apartments and converted existing rental units in Jackson Heights to cooperatives. In so doing, Queensboro established the legal precedent for such conversions, a move which has had a tremendous impact on the New York City real estate market in more recent years.16 The majority of the buildings which followed were sold under the Corporation's plan of cooperative ownership.

Subsequent to the construction of Linden Court, Queensboro initiated major projects each year to the designs of either George H. Wells or Andrew J. Thomas: Hampton Court (Wells, begun 1919); Elm Court, Hawthorne Court, and Laburnum Court (Wells, begun 1921); the Chateau and Hayes Court (Thomas, begun 1922) and Cambridge Court (Wells, begun 1922); the Towers (Thomas, begun 1923); and Ivy Court, Cedar Court, and the Spanish Gardens (Thomas, begun 1924). These yearly building campaigns were encouraged by the passage of state legislation in 1920 and 1923 which allowed ten-year real estate tax exemptions on new construction.17 Moreover, in 1922, the state legislature amended the State Insurance Code to allow insurance companies to invest in housing projects.

The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company was a strong lobbyist for this legislation and also one of the important financial backers of Queensboro's efforts at Jackson Heights. In 1921, it had loaned over $1,400,000 to the Corporation for the construction of Elm, Hawthorne, and Laburnum Courts.19 By the following year, Metropolitan Life had loaned Queensboro almost $8,000,000.

In 1924, the Queensboro Corporation redirected its efforts to building groups of single-family and convertible two-family houses; the firm's president, E.A. MacDougall, is said to have made this change in policy in response to the requests of the young veterans of World War I who wanted their own homes. At about the same time, with the completion of Ivy Court (1924), the Corporation responded to those who could not afford to buy their own apartments and began to rent the units rather than sell them as cooperatives. Another reason for the new policies was that Queensboro was being faced with resistance to the expensive prices of the units in its garden apartment complexes, which had become progressively more elaborate and more costly to build: Indeed, one project designed by Ernest Flagg, for the entire block between 35th and 37th avenues, 77th and 78th streets, was halted after the foundations were laid. It was over a decade before that block was developed with Berkeley Hall and Berkeley Gardens.21

In the 1920s Queensboro also started selling large parcels of . its undeveloped land to outside developers with the agreement that Queensboro would act as managing agent for the new buildings for the first ten years; there were also restrictions entered into the deeds governing use, materials, height, placement of fire escapes, entrance and egress over the properties, signage, awnings, and heights of ornamental hedges. Thus, Queensboro continued to exert considerable control over the development and maintenance of the area.

From the earliest years, Queensboro attempted to create a complete community, not just a residential enclave, and it actively encouraged the growth of religious, educational, commercial, social, and recreational life for the residents of the area. In 1920, architectural critic John Taylor Boyd, Jr., who was among the first to write about the development of the garden apartment, wrote about Jackson Heights: .

It is no less than a small city. In the process [of developing the area] a community center with a building is already established, churches are organized, community recreations, such as playgrounds, golf links, gardens, are in operation on the corporation's land, stores are provided for, and other needs of a little city are planned for as they will be required. This, truly, is city planning.22

This community foundation was enhanced and elaborated upon over the next thirty years.

During the Depression years of the 1930s Queensboro found it was no longer profitable to continue to build small houses as it had done in the late 1920s. In this changing economy, the Corporation turned to the development of six-story elevator apartment houses intended for rental, increasingly the most common building type erected throughout the city in those years. The reason for the shift was given by MacDougall in a New York Times interview:

Building lots which were purchased twenty years ago for two hundred dollars or less now bring from twenty to thirty thousand dollars each.

These increases have put an end to the possibility of more small _ dwellings in Jackson Heights so far as residential property is concerned, and that type of land is now reserved for apartment houses of not less than six stories.

Seemingly undaunted by the financial climate of the times, Queensboro pushed ahead with a number of building campaigns in 1931. One of the most ambitious called for the construction of twelve-,to fifteen-story buildings to cover three city blocks near the new station of the I.R.T. subway at the intersection of Broadway and 74th Street (outside the boundaries of the historic district). Rosario Candela, a prolific Manhattan apartment house architect, was commissioned to design the project. A second project was a mixed-use building — which was to include a 500-room hotel, forty stores, and a taxi and bus terminal — to occupy the blockfront on the north side of 37th Avenue between 82nd and 83rd Streets.

Though neither of these projects were built, more than a dozen large apartment complexes were completed during the 1930s, filling in some of the sites at the avenue ends of the garden apartment complexes and open spaces such as the golf course (Dunolly Gardens).

Little development took place within the area of the historic district during the wartime years of the 1940s. It was only with the end of the decade and the first few years of the 1950s that construction resumed on the remaining undeveloped parcels of land. Due to limited building activity since then, the area of the district retains much of the character it achieved at that time. The Corporation had become the insurance broker and managing agent for many of the apartment houses and continued in that role until its failure in 1989. During the 1980s, many of the rental buildings within the district were converted to cooperatives, recalling the plan begun by Queensboro sixty years before.

The buildings in the Jackson Heights Historic District were erected between 1911 and the present, the great majority of them dating from the four decades between the mid-1910s and the early 1950s. The unusual character of Jackson Heights owes much to its pioneering development as a community of block-plan garden apartments and house groups. These buildings are complemented by later end-block and mid-block apartment buildings, as well as by commercial, civic, and institutional buildings which were built over a wide span of years. ' .

The architecture of Jackson Heights is characterized by an overall simplicity of design, reflecting the movement away from the extensive use of ornament popular during the late nineteenth century. Generally, simple facade treatments are combined with such picturesque elements as loggias and belvederes (on the apartment buildings), entrance porches, gables, tile and slate roofs with various profiles, and decorative brickwork. The facades of the buildings in the district are largely executed in brick, and are rendered in historically-based styles, ranging from Georgian, Tudor, Gothic, Italian Renaissance, and Spanish Romanesque in the 1910s, '20s, and '30s, to Art Deco, Moderne, and International Style in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. As a rule, the architectural expression of the buildings in Jackson Heights tends toward the conservative.

The names of architectural styles by which buildings are identified in this report are generalizations based on references to historic sources. The architects who designed what are called "neo-Tudor" or "neo-Romanesque" buildings did not intend to produce archeologically correct recreations of historic styles. Instead, they attempted to evoke the flavor, or suggestion, of English, Spanish or Italian buildings, and the resulting work is best described as a free adaptation, often combining elements drawn from more than one source.

- From the 1993 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

I managed to download some actions today but it took me so long I didn't have time to get a photo! So I've reworked another old shot with Velvet Peach from CoffeeShopBlog.

Scavenger Hunt 101 - sh47 - A Place of Worship

Session 5: Managing Capital Flows

This session will focus on the challenges in the region associated with the normalization of U.S. and other advanced economy monetary conditions, including ongoing and possible spillovers to Asia, appropriate policies to be implemented by spillover-receiving countries, and the possible role for international policy coordination in ameliorating the negative impact of volatile capital flows. Key themes to be addressed include: How EM policy makers can prepare for / cope with financial volatility associated with asynchronous AE monetary policy stances. Experience with macroprudential policies and their potential role in managing capital flows. Regional insurance mechanisms, and their role in containing contagion from financial turbulence. Past experience of the IMF in facilitating coordination of macro-financial policies among key economies and possible ways forward.

Moderator:

Maurice Obstfeld, Economic Counsellor and Head of Research Department, IMF

Panelists:

Sukudhew Singh, Deputy Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia

In-chang Song, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Finance and Strategy, Korea

Yiping Huang, Professor, National School of Development, Peking University

Chatib Basri, Former Minister of Finance of Indonesia and Senior Lecturer Department of Economics University of Indonesia

Eswar Prasad, Professor of Economics, Cornell University

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva leaves the Arsenale to take part in a G20 cultural program and dinner at Teatro La Fenice

IMF Photo/Silvia Longhi

10 July 2021

Venice, Italy

Photo ref: G20_sat10-4618.jpg

Managed to spend a few days on this wonderful eco-friendly island 80 km off the Queensland coast. Famous for it's Manta Rays, it is also a great birding, whale spotting and snorkelling/diving destination.

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and IMFC Chair and First Vice President of Spain Nadia Calviño conduct the IMFC press conference at the International Monetary Fund.

IMF Photo/Cory Hancock

21 April 2022

Washington, DC, United States

Photo ref: CH220421115.arw

Managed to capture this railway track just before it was dismantled 2 months ago.

PP: Mild HDR.

Camera used: Sony DSLR Alpha 850.

Lens: SAL 50mm F1.4.

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva meets with President of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embaló at the International Monetary Fund.

IMF Photo/Alison Shelley

13 December 2022

Washington, DC, United States

Photo ref: AS221213058.jpg

Managed by the St. George Field Office

International Monetary Fund's Managing Director Christine Lagarde (R) meets with Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak (L) in KL, Malaysia on Nov. 14, 2012.

Managed to snap a few images early hours this morning of the comet, with the Canon 60D on my ED80. Not entirely happy but better than cloud which is what we have had! ;)

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (L) speaks with Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon (R) at the High Level Meeting of the Ebola Recovery April 17, 2015during the 2015 IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings at World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC. IMF Staff Photo/Stephen Jaffe

Deputy Managing Director Antoinette Sayeh talks with Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant of the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, and Tanja Goodwin, Senior Country Economist for Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, at the World Bank Group, during the Capacity Development Talk: The IMF’s Engagement on Social Protection during the 2021 Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.

IMF Photo/Joshua Roberts

5 April 2021

Washington, DC, United States

Photo ref: JR210405.003.jpg

I somehow managed to unintentionally collect a heap of pics of road signs along the way

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (L) is greeted by Bank of Indonesia Deputy Governor Perry Warjiyo (R) at the Jakarta International Airport August 31, 2015 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Lagarde is on a several day visit to Indonesia where she will speak at the University of Indonesia and meet with officials. IMF Staff Photo/Stephen Jaffe

Zodiac のときにようやく出来たメタリックな設定をクリアにして取って置きたいと思う。

詳細はコチラ 　ソラマメですけどね。

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, will today begin her three day visit to Rwanda, her first since she came to the helm of the institution in 2011. In an e-mail correspondence with The New Times’ Kenneth Agutamba, Lagarde sheds light on her institution’s current relationship with Rwanda and commends the country’s transformative and inclusive policies that have seen a significant decline in poverty levels.

You come here 20 years after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. In your view, what has been the trigger for Rwanda’s rapid economic renaissance?

My main message to Rwanda is that “Good policies pay off.” Let me set this in a broader context by saying that I am very happy to have the opportunity to visit Rwanda at such a pivotal moment in its history. The horrific events that occurred 20 years ago tore the social and economic fabric of the country, and it is uplifting to see the progress in rebuilding, in peace efforts, and in improving the welfare of all Rwandans.

This truly is an example in terms of social and economic transformation. It proves that effective policies and inclusive growth can be transformational.

The economic performance has been remarkable, with strong annual growth for the past 15 years. This has helped Rwanda make progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The poorest have benefited from a focus on inclusive growth, with the poverty rate falling to 45 per cent of the population in 2011 from 60 per cent in 2000.

Of course, this rate is still high, but it is definite progress and we see the trend continuing. So, while there has not been a magic bullet or a single trigger, a holistic approach, that also included a focus on the agricultural sector, employment, and gender equality, has been instrumental in sharing the fruits of high growth more widely.

What is the status of IMF relations in Rwanda at present?

We have a very close economic policy dialogue and the IMF is currently supporting the government with a Policy Support Instrument (PSI) – designed for low-income countries that have graduated from financial support but still seek to maintain a close policy dialogue.

The PSI signals the strength of a country’s policies to donors, multilateral development banks, and markets. We also provide technical assistance as part of the Fund’s efforts to increase local capacity and know-how. We have an office in Kigali, where a resident representative, currently Mitra Farahbaksh, ensures our presence in the field.

Rwanda’s PSI, which is in its second year, supports Rwanda’s own policy priorities for strong and inclusive growth, with an emphasis on domestic resource mobilization, private sector development, export diversification, regional integration, and financial sector development.

We recently reviewed this programme and welcomed the country’s continued strong performance. We also agreed with the government that more work needs to be done to further reduce Rwanda’s reliance on aid and increase its resilience to external shocks.

What is your economic outlook for the country between now and 2020?

Our outlook for Rwanda is positive. The economy is recovering from a weak performance in agriculture and delays in related project implementation in recent years. Growth rebounded last year and inflation remains well contained. We expect GDP growth rates to rise gradually towards 7-7.5 per cent in the medium term, while inflation remains within the medium-term target of 5 per cent.

I am particularly impressed with the government’s continued commitment to poverty reduction.

As part of my stay here, I will be visiting the Agaseke Handicraft Cooperative and the ICT hub (knowledge Lab) in Kigali to see firsthand how the government has managed to improve the welfare of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups such as women and youth.

As your readers are aware, the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy for 2013–18 focuses on economic transformation, rural development, and youth employment. The strategy is rightly aimed at further reducing poverty.

I think that the continued rollout of planned measures and the successful inclusion of the private sector in leading economic development will help make sizeable inroads in making growth even more inclusive and in reducing inequality.

In a recent advisory by the IMF Board, they encouraged Rwanda to widen its tax base and put emphasis on domestic revenue sourcing. What is your advice on this?

We are devoting a significant portion of our technical assistance to support Rwanda’s efforts to reduce its dependence on foreign aid. The focus is appropriately on widening the tax base – not higher taxes, but all paying a fair share.

The government has already made significant progress in the areas of revenue administration.

The push to increase the number of registered VAT payers through the introduction of electronic billing machines, and the switch in the collection of local taxes and fees from the local governments to the revenue authority, should be useful in bringing more businesses under the tax system.

The introduction of tax regimes for agriculture and mining, and improvements in property taxation, should also help achieve the goal of providing budgetary resources for key expenditures, particularly those aimed at scaling up social spending and infrastructure in a context where donor resources are likely to be limited.

Lately, Rwanda has taken to raising money through bonds, do you think this is viable?

Rwanda’s successful Euro-bond issuance in 2013 demonstrated that market financing can play a complementary role in financing investment plans. Several other African countries have followed suit over the past year.

The key is to ensure that Rwanda’s debt remains sustainable. I welcome the government’s commitment to fully explore concessional financing options and private sector participation before considering the use of non-concessional resources.

At the same time, the government’s decision to begin issuing domestic currency bonds in 2014 was an important step in the process of developing and deepening local capital markets.

www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2015-01-26/185319/

Creating jobs remains a high priority for this country, but as you know the private sector is also still young. What should Rwanda do to address these two issues?

On private sector development, Rwanda’s potential depends critically on full implementation of ongoing reforms to attract foreign investment and boost exports. These include reducing the cost of doing business; improving infrastructure; supporting skills development; and tapping into regional markets.

The increased provision of lower-cost electricity and improved transportation should help facilitate diversification and business development.

On creating jobs, the government has identified three key priorities: skills development, the fostering of entrepreneurship for small- and medium-sized enterprises, and supporting household enterprises. We at the Fund share this emphasis on building the capacity of Africa’s greatest resource–its people. Increased investment in infrastructure can help put people to work.

The IMF’s latest Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa projects regional GDP growth to pick up from about 5 per cent in 2013/14 to 5.75 per cent in 2015. That isn’t a big leap, is it? Can you elaborate on this?

Sub-Saharan Africa has made impressive progress over the past two decades, with growth averaging around 5 per cent. We expect that to continue in 2015, despite the impact of lower oil prices on some of Africa’s major oil exporting economies.

So there has been real progress, as growth has allowed for reducing poverty and improving living conditions.

For example, the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day in Africa has fallen significantly since 1990. But extreme poverty remains unacceptably high and not all countries are making progress. Some countries are still facing internal conflict and/or fragility.

Looking ahead, there are a number of longer-term demographic, technological and environmental challenges that need to be addressed in order to realise the ‘big leap’ that you refer to.

For instance, how can we tap into the productive capacity of Africa’s youth? How can Africa take advantage of technological innovation?

And how can we address the implications of climate change? Three broad policy priorities are crucial: building infrastructure, building institutions, and building people. Africa must also strengthen its institutional and governance frameworks to better manage its vast resources.

But the focus must be on people—with programmes aimed at boosting health and education and other essential social services. In fact, Rwanda is one of the countries that are effectively implementing policies in many of these areas.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has dealt a major blow to several African economies in the region. Can the effects of this blow spread to other parts of the continent?

The Ebola outbreak is a severe human, social and economic crisis that requires a resolute response. And the focus must be on isolating the virus, not the countries.

Strong efforts are underway in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, but it is unlikely to be brought under control before the second half of 2015.

The economic outlook for these countries has already worsened since September, when the IMF disbursed $130 million to the (three) countries to boost their response to the outbreak.

If the outbreak remains limited to the three countries, the economic outlook for the rest of sub-Saharan Africa remains favourable. Some neighbouring countries like The Gambia have seen an impact on tourism.

We are working with the governments of the three affected countries to provide additional interest-free financing of about $160 million, and expect our Board to make a decision in the next few days.

Following the endorsement by the G-20 leaders in Australia, we are also looking at further options to provide additional support to the Ebola-hit countries, including through the provision of donor-supported debt relief.

International oil prices have been tumbling, is this good for Rwanda and the other members of the EAC?

Indeed, oil prices have fallen recently, affecting both oil producers and consumers. Overall, we see the price decline as positive for the global economy. As an oil importer, Rwanda and indeed the East Africa region should benefit given that lower prices will most likely have a positive impact on growth whilst also easing inflation.

Countries can make use of this window of opportunity to reduce universal energy subsidies and use the savings toward more targeted transfers that benefit the poor.

Recently, the East African Community, a regional bloc to which Rwanda subscribes, reached a landmark Economic Partnership agreement (Epa) with Europe. Do you think that these countries need such agreements?

The EPA is designed to enhance commercial and economic relations, supporting a new trading dynamic in the region and deepening cooperation in trade and investment. It can serve as an important instrument of development in many respects.

It can promote sustained growth, increase the productive capacity of EAC economies, foster diversification and competitiveness, and, of course, boost trade, investment and employment. Rwanda is a key member of the EAC that has worked hard to create a conducive and transparent business environment. So it should benefit from this agreement.

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva participates in a panel discussion with NYC Climate Week from the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, on September 17, 2020. IMF Photo/Cory Hancock

The Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Philoptochos honored Archon Michael Psaros, Co-Founder

and Co-Managing Partner of KPS Capital Partners at its 64th Annual Chrysanthemum Ball on November

10 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City.

The invocation was delivered by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios assisted by Archdeacon Panteleimon

Papadopoulos. The guests were welcomed by Fr. John Vlahos, Dean of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the

Holy Trinity, Stella Pantelidis, co-chair of the ball and the Cathedral Philoptochos President Dr. Miranda

Kofinas. This year's honoree Michael Psaros was introduced by Maria Marinakis and Maro Stratakis.

Honored guests included Dr. Konstantinos Koutras, Consul General of Greece to New York, and his wife,

Popita Pavli, Ambassador Maria Theophili, Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN, Ambassador

Vasilios Philippou, Consul General of Cyprus to New York, and his wife Anthea, Jennifer Constantine,

Direct Archdiocesan District Philoptochos President, James Gianakis, Archdiocesan Cathedral Board of

Trustees President and Rev. Robert Stephanopoulos, Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral along with

Presvytera Nikki Stephanopoulos.

The Chrysanthemum Ball is the Holy Trinity Archdiocesan Cathedral Philoptochos’ main annual fundraising

event for its charitable activities.

PHOTO: © GOA/GANP/DIMITRIOS PANAGOS-GANP/ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗΣ ΠΑΝΑΓΟΣ

Photo by John A. Kelley, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service If this photo is used in a publication, on a web site, or as part of any other project, please use the provided photo credit. This photo may not be used to infer or imply USDA-NRCS endorsement of any product, company, or position. Please do not distort or alter the images the photos portray.

Managed to catch a few shots of this spectacular double rainbow over Kingswood shortly before it faded.

The 3rd Donadea 50KM Ultra Marathon and Irish 50KM Championships were held at Donadea Forest Park, Donadea, Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland on Saturday, 16th February 2013 at 10:00. The race is an International Association of Ultrarunners Bronze Label Event. The course is ten loops of the outer loop of the beautiful Coilte managed Donadea Forest Park. Overall this was a fantastic event. There were 107 participants on the start list including 8 runners who have started all of the three Donadea 50KMs held so far. Several runners from the nearby club Donadea Running Club took part. The race was organised by race director Anthony Lee who must be commended on doing a wonderful, professional job on organising this race to the very highest standards. The recent forest thinning works that have been carried out created a little muddy stretch near the hills on the back part of the loop but otherwise the loop (see garmin trace below) is a forest path in very good conditions. The high standard of organisation, the great camaraderie and atmosphere amongst the runners will see this become one of the must-do ultra marathon events in Ireland in years to come. The race was won by Barry Minnock in 3-05 (new course record) and the ladies race was won by Crusaders' Olywn Dunne in 4:01

How can I get a full resolution copy of these photographs?

All of the photographs here on this Flickr set are provided at a lower resolution. All of the photographs posted here on this Flickr set are available, free, at no cost, at full resolution. Please do not take the images and repost them elsewhere without asking first. We take these photographs as a hobby and as a contribution to the running community in Ireland. We do not know of any other photographers who operate such a policy. Our only "cost" is our request that if you are using these images: (1) on social media sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter,LinkedIn, Google+, Google Orkut etc or (2) other websites, web multimedia, commercial/promotional material that you provide a link back to our Flickr page to attribute us. This also means the use of these images for Facebook profile pictures. In these cases please make a wall post with a link to our Flickr page. If you do not know how this should be done for Facebook or other media please email us and we will be happy to help suggest how to link to us.

Please email petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com with the links to the photographs you would like to obtain a full resolution copy of. We also ask race organisers, media, etc to ask for permission before use of our images for flyers, posters, etc. We reserve the right to refuse a request.

In summary please remember - all we ask is for you to link back to our Flickr set or Flickr pages. We are not posting photographs to Flickr for commercial reasons. If you really like what we do please spread the link around, send us an email, leave a comment beside the photographs, send us a Flickr email, etc.

I ran the race - but my photograph doesn't appear here in your Flickr set!

As mentioned above we take these photographs as a hobby and as a voluntary contribution to the running community in Ireland. Very often we have actually ran in the same race and then switched to photographer mode after we finished the race. Consequently, we have no obligations to capture a photograph of every participant in the race. However, we do try our very best to capture as many participants as possible. But this is sometimes not possible for a variety of reasons:

You were hidden behind another participant as you passed our camera

Weather or lighting conditions meant that we had some photographs with blurry content which we did not upload to our Flickr set

There were too many people - some races attract thousands of participants and as amateur photographs we cannot hope to capture photographs of everyone

We simply missed you - sorry about that - we did our best!

You can email us petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com to enquire if we have a photograph of you which didn't make the final Flickr selection for the race.

If you want to contribute something for these images?

We do not charge for these images. We take these photographs as our contribution to the running community in Ireland. If you feel that they are good enough that you would ordinarily pay for their purchase we would suggest that you can provide a donation to any of the great charities in Ireland who do work for Cancer Care or Cancer Research in Ireland.

Don't like your photograph here?

That's OK! We understand!

If, for any reason, you are not happy or comfortable with your picture appearing here in this photoset on Flickr then please email us at petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com and we will remove it as soon as possible.

Please note: that we cannot be responsible for the content of any external links (outside of our Flickr account) as we have no control over them. Links are provided for your information only. Responsibility lies solely with the operators of these websites.

Some links, related to this race, which you might find useful:

International Association of Ultrarunners Bronze Label Event www.iau-ultramarathon.org/

Our pictures from the 1st Donadea 50KM 2011 (www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157626144568382/with...)

Paul Daly's photographs from the 2nd Donadea 50KM 2012 (www.flickr.com/photos/58190594@N02/sets/72157629390998687...)

Donadea 50km facebook page (www.facebook.com/groups/102353996509605/?fref=ts) You might need to have a Facebook account to see this.

Boards.ie Athletics Thread Discussion on this race: www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056180196&p...

The Garmin Route Trace of the Donadea 50KM Main Loop connect.garmin.com/activity/118322861

You are likely to find some great photographs of Donadea Ultra 2013 here on Flickr [http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhshelley/sets/] courtesy of James Shelley (Le Cheile AC)

Managed to get a couple photos off the dreaded bad card. It sux when you have to toss a 16 Gigger. But I'm not chancing that again.

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva listens to French President Emmanuel Macron during a zoom call on Mobilizing with Africa during the 2020 Annual Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.

IMF Photo/ Cory Hancock

9 October 2020

Washington, D.C., United States of America

Photo Reference: CH201009068

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Magdalena Andersson, Chairman for the International Monetary Fund and Financial Committee, participate in the IMFC Press Conference during the 2021 Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.

IMF Photo/Cory Hancock

8 April 2021

Washington, DC, United States

Photo ref: CH210408798.arw

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks to the press ahead of a meeting with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal.

IMF Photo/Kim Haughton

20 September 2022

New York, New York, United States

Photo ref: KH220920008.jpg

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva meets with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.

IMF Photo/Lena Mucha

26 August 2021

Berlin, Germany

Photo ref: 20210826-DSC_1989.jpg

Ali bin Masoud bin Ali Al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Planning and Special Envoy of Oman speaking during the Session "Managing Cyber-Risks" at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre before World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa 2019. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Jakob Polacsek

Belle the Wonder Dog has captured the first of sixty fierce dino's roaming the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul

We managed to get up to The Lake District for a few days at Easter. We got away from work on Good Friday afternoon and spent three hours covering 110 miles, the M61 and M6 were very slow or stopped. As ever once there we soon left the hassle behind. We were using a B&B that we used very regularly for ten years until the owner passed away quite suddenly. Now under new ownership it has been totally gutted and refurbished, it’s very nice but twice as expensive.

We were out in good time on Saturday, it was dull and cool but very calm. I’d deliberated for ages as to where to walk, wanting to avoid the worst of the Easter crowds. It was the busiest I’d seen the Lakes for a long time amd the North Lakes in particular had stunning weather, the South Lakes had dense fog in places until the afternoon and was much cooler – but not cold. Parking in Patterdale we headed up Arnison Crag, on to Birks aiming for St Sunday Crag. This was where it started to go wrong. I got a sudden pain in my right ankle, near a previous serious ankle injury, it’s not unusual to get a bit of pain in this ankle but it got worse. My ankle felt like it was in a vice. On the plus side the cloud which was very low initially was clearing higher at the same speed that we were climbing. We scrambled over Cofa Pike through some snow on to Fairfield and for a change the summit was clear with glorious views. I had to undo my gaiter and slacken my boot, my ankle was swelling and bruising. I took paracetemol and carried on – I didn’t have much choice really. We walked to Hart Crag out to Dove Crag, back to Hart Crag as we wanted to head down over Hartsop above How. We stopped for a quick sandwich and pot of lemon tea before heading down the rocky path. By now I was suffering but still able to walk fairly fast. The yomp back along the road to Patterdale was tough. We covered 11.5 miles in around five hours, which was OK for a first walk in the mountains for a while. We drove to Keswick wanting to get to Brysons tearooms for cake and coffee. Keswick was packed and sunny and we had to walk in half a mile, that was painful, my ankle was agony until I got it loosened up. Toasted Plum Bread, apple pie and ice cream and coffee made up for the grief.

On Sunday I knew I couldn’t walk much. I was applying Ibuprofen Gel regularly but it was going to be a car and camera day. There was dense fog when we set off so I decided we needed to be somewhere attractive when it started to clear, I just didn’t know when that was going to be. We drove into Langdale and the fog broke to reveal Blue sky and the top of the Langdale Pikes, it was fantastic. I immediately thought of Blea Tarn and drove up the pass out of Langdale. I expected to find, as is usual, tripods in a row, with photographers clicking away. There wasn’t a soul, it was so calm and peaceful – and beautiful – I couldn’t believe my luck. I limped as fast as I could to the Tarn, unfortunately an overnight camper, who I chatted with about the beauty, reflections and the camera I was carrying, did her best to encourage her dog into the water and she got in to get washed. It was so calm that the ripples would cross the entire tarn and spoil the photos. I shot as quick as I could, moving away from her all the time. I think I had around 15 minutes at the most before a breeze – that I couldn’t feel – started to ripple the water. The reflections disappeared and it was over. Without the bad ankle I would have missed this tranquillity as we would have been toiling up out first climb of the day. The fog stayed put in the South Lakes but we headed north over Dunmail Raise to blue sky and 17 degrees.

On Monday after 36 hours of Ibuprofen I felt that my ankle would stand a six or seven miler – but where? We had very thick fog in Ambleside so again I drove over Dunmail Raise and again it was fantastic. I could see the chance of some good photos around Thirlmere but I had to get waterside at a point where the view wasn’t obstructed with saplings and bushes growing out of the water. This was easier said than done, it took three attempts to get a decent location. I had reflections, hanging mist, water and mountains – and wet feet again, fortunately I had my walking boots and socks to put on for the walk ahead. After my photo chase we parked at Steel End and headed up the steep nose of Steel Fell. It’s a tough climb but the view over Thirlmere was great. We could see the wall of fog to the south and I was looking forward to getting to the top, hoping that we would be able to see over it with mountains poking out of a sea of white. This was exactly as it was, the Lion and the Lamb on Helm Crag looked like an island in the sea of mist. We walked along the ridge to Calf Crag with clear views to the north and a sea on mist to the south, it looked like the right choice again. We were going to head down Wythburn back to Thirlmere. Wyth Burn runs through a secluded hanging valley through an area called The Bog. I’ve walked down here a few times and at first glance it looks dry – they didn’t name it The Bog for nothing – it is extremely wet. It doesn’t matter how high you walk to avoid it – you can’t! We were wet above the gaiters by the time we got back and it was tough on the ankle. Brysons here we come, another beautiful hot day in Keswick but back to work tomorrow.

BLM California manages nearly 600 producing oil and gas leases covering more than 200,000 acres and 7,900 usable wells. Between 80% and 90% of all surface-disturbing activities related to oil and gas activities occur in the San Joaquin Valley on public lands administered by Central California District, Bakersfield Field Office. More than 95% of all Federal drilling occurs in established fields within the Kern County area of the San Joaquin Valley.

The oil and gas program in California is one of the more active in all of the western states, with 2013 onshore oil production figures ranking the State as the 3rd most productive state in the United States. In 2012, California was ranked as the 13th most productive natural gas producing state. BLM California is responsible for managing one of the most productive individual onshore leases in the lower 48 states, and four of the nation’s top seven producing oil fields are located in Kern County. As a general rule, California’s Federal production totals average approximately 8% -10% of California’s total oil and natural gas production.

Photo by John Ciccarelli , BLM.

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks during the IMFC Plenary meeting during the 2021 Annual Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.

IMF Photo/Cory Hancock

14 October 2021

Washington, DC, United States

Photo ref: CH211014036.arw

Managed to dodge the CCTV this time. And no visit from the Police either, which is always a plus!

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva is interviewed by CNBC’s Sara Eisen at the International Monetary Fund.

IMF Photo/Cory Hancock

1 July 2021

Washington, DC, United States

Photo ref: CH210701145.arw

International Symposium on Managing Land and Water for Climate-Smart Agriculture held at the Agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria. 25 July 2022

Photo Credit: Dean Calma / IAEA

Managed to get a boat ride out to beside the giant wave for the finals of the Billabong Pro Surf Competition

Managed to get a quick reflection inbetween showers in a muddy puddle. Did not dare leave any longer as there is a cyclone now brewing up north< Poor Bundy has copped too much rain and cannot afford to have any more as our ground cannot absorb any more. Some poor people have been flooded 3 time of late:-(

We had a trip to Prague in January – for Jayne’s birthday - we don’t buy Christmas or birthday presents, we travel instead. We left snowy England for a very, very dull and grey Czech Republic. Yet again I was on a photographic downer looking at the weather forecast, grey is the colour that haunts me. Fortunately it was dull grey and not burnt highlight inducing bright grey.With the grey sky acting like a big diffuser I was going to have deep shadow and contrast to deal with. We had three very short spells of broken cloud which gave us a bit of sun and colour, which I managed to more or less anticipate so we managed to be in decent locations every time – generally somewhere high.

We had been upgraded to a five star hotel, apparently our original choice was flooded. We got compensation and five star hotel upgrade– a first for me. The Art Nouveau Palace has a beautiful interior, with beautiful rooms, the breakfast room was fantastic, as was the breakfast it has to be said. We were able to have an early breakfast so were out on foot just after eight. It was very cold – and dull! We spent the whole week well wrapped up. It drizzled for a day, but never really wet us, it snowed for a day, again we didn’t get wet and the snow didn’t settle. We walked 65 mile, spending plenty of time checking buildings and their interiors out – and coffee shop and bar interiors it has to be said. Although it was dull and sometimes wet I decided that the Camera was staying in my hands for the whole trip. Whenever I put it in my backpack for one reason or another I regret it.

Again, I didn’t look at any photographs of Prague before we got there, I like to just walk and discover, with the DK guidebook in my pocket (which is full of photos it has to be said). We like to get off the beaten track and see the grittier side of the places we visit – within reason! Prague has an incredible tram network, over 1000 trams – with many of them Tatra Eastern Bloc machines. The system seems chaotic but in reality it is incredible with one of the largest networks and highest usages in the world. The trams and cars frequently share the same road space with very little in the way of drama, none of the inexplicable and pathetic constant horn blowing one finds in many countries. Once it became apparent that buildings with a grey blanket as a background were going to be a bit un-inspirational I decided that the trams would be a good focal point instead. Where I have photographed one of the older trams against a background without clues it is easy to imagine that the photos were taken fifty years ago.

The train network also provided photo opportunities. The rolling stock ranges from old Eastern Bloc to very modern double decker’s and pendolinos. There are three stations although we visited the main station and Smichov. The main station interior is art deco and has been renovated by a private company. The exterior and the platforms are very rundown with a grim eastern bloc 1950’s feel –but it works! We discovered to our amusement that we could just walk across multiple lines, no health and safety, just keep your eyes open and don’t walk under a train – you’ll make a mess. Smichov station was grim, it didn’t help that it snowed all day and was grey and bitter. We felt like we were in a 50’s film set in Russia, broken concrete platforms and dereliction. With both stations there was another world underneath them. The underground Metro is running seamlessly and efficiently away beneath your feet. I didn’t have any problems taking photos anywhere but I was very open and obviously a tourist, I didn’t act covertly or suspiciously. There was only one occasion I was stopped and that was in a shopping centre – full of CCTV cameras filming everyone else!

We discovered old and beautiful- and very large- shopping centres hidden away in quite a few places. Brass framed windows and doors, shops thriving, there was a massive camera shop with thousands of second hand cameras, too much to look at. Many of the landmark buildings prevent photography, some make a small charge, some encourage it, the DK guide book gives a good indication regarding camera use. Nothing stops many people though, they just shoot away regardless, usually wanting a picture that includes their self. Prague is surrounded by low hills and has a fair few towers that you can pay a few pounds to go up, so viewpoints are plentiful. I think we visited most of them. I read about the Zizkov Tower, which looks like a Soviet rocket on the horizon and we headed straight for it - after crossing the rail lines! Set in a quiet residential area, there wasn’t a soul about. Two beautiful girls on reception and we parted with a few pounds, into the lift and were on the observation deck with no one else up there. There are fantastic views over the city, but! It is through two layers of not very clean glass so you go for the view rather than sharp panoramas. Still a fascinating place, with a nice café bar and very clean toilets – there are toilets everywhere, usually manned with a fee. Places are well staffed compared with home were three students are supposed to run a 20 screen multiplex cinema.

Graffiti was prominent, no matter how grand the monument, some moron would have daubed it. How do they get away with it in a 24 hour city centre with a strong police presence? The place is very clean, constantly being swept. What did surprise me, was that many buildings, that looked grand and built of stone, from a distance, were actually rendered with very low quality brickwork concealed. When restored the building look very impressive, others are missing the outer render from ground level to a fair height.

I need to cut this short really, I like to put a background story to the photos and although it would be better to individualise it to a specific photo or group of photos I don’t have the time to do that. I do try to give specific detail in the title bar after I have uploaded, this is time consuming enough although I’m pretty proficient at it by now. There are many things I would like to write that should be of interest to anyone thinking of going to Prague but I’ll have to let the pictures do the talking. As usual I am unlikely to be selective enough with my uploads, I’m not very good at leaving photos out so I just upload and be damned.

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva meets with President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi the International Monetary Fund.

IMF Photo/Alison Shelley

12 December 2022

Washington, DC, United States

Photo ref: AS221212025.jpg

Session 5: Managing Capital Flows

This session will focus on the challenges in the region associated with the normalization of U.S. and other advanced economy monetary conditions, including ongoing and possible spillovers to Asia, appropriate policies to be implemented by spillover-receiving countries, and the possible role for international policy coordination in ameliorating the negative impact of volatile capital flows. Key themes to be addressed include: How EM policy makers can prepare for / cope with financial volatility associated with asynchronous AE monetary policy stances. Experience with macroprudential policies and their potential role in managing capital flows. Regional insurance mechanisms, and their role in containing contagion from financial turbulence. Past experience of the IMF in facilitating coordination of macro-financial policies among key economies and possible ways forward.

Moderator:

Maurice Obstfeld, Economic Counsellor and Head of Research Department, IMF

Panelists:

Sukudhew Singh, Deputy Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia

In-chang Song, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Finance and Strategy, Korea

Yiping Huang, Professor, National School of Development, Peking University

Chatib Basri, Former Minister of Finance of Indonesia and Senior Lecturer Department of Economics University of Indonesia

Eswar Prasad, Professor of Economics, Cornell University