The International Monetary Fund announced in Washington late on Wednesday that there had been progress in talks with Greek authorities but no agreement on Greece's economic performance under an IMF-EU rescue program.

"There has been progress in recent days, but some outstanding issues remain to be agreed upon to reach full staff-level agreement. Furthermore, financing issues will be discussed between the official lenders and Greece,» an IMF spokesperson said.

The brief IMF statement confirmed the European Union's insistence earlier in the day that there was no deal, after Greece's finance minister announced he had agreed on a new austerity package with the IMF, the EU and the European Union and won more time to fix the debt-crippled nation's finances.

Yannis Stournaras told the Greek parliament the so-called troika of lenders had granted a long-sought extension of fiscal goals in return for austerity measures required to unlock a new tranche of funds vital to keep the country afloat.

Any deal would require the backing of the government's coalition partners and EU officials were quick to make clear that the troika had yet not reached any agreement with Athens.

[AFP]