ECONOMY

Schaeuble advises against IMF departure from Greek program

Schaeuble advises against IMF departure from Greek program

In comments to the Wall Street Journal published on Monday, just a few days after suggesting in an interview with German media that a potential withdrawal of the International Monetary Fund could necessitate a renegotiation of Greece’s bailout, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble advised against such a prospect.

“Should it not come to a successful second review [of the steps Greece must fulfill under its support program], and should the IMF draw the consequences from this, then the current program would be obsolete. The program was agreed to only on the expectation that the IMF would participate," Schaeuble was quoted by the WSJ as saying.

“If it became obsolete, then we would have a situation in which one would need to come up with something new. I wouldn’t recommend this to the Greek government," Schaeuble added. "But I would be completely relaxed. The German Bundestag would first need to discuss and agree on whether or not it approves negotiating a new program.”

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