Comments made by Greece’s former representative to the International Monetary Fund, Panayiotis Roumeliotis, regarding the country’s inability to fully adhere to the bailout programs devised by its partners and creditors provoked an irked response from the financial organization.

“We knew at the Fund from the very beginning that this program was impossible to be implemented because we didn’t have any -- any -- successful example,” Roumeliotis (photo) told the New York Times, adding that “the argument that is used usually by the troika in order to criticize Greece -- and to ignore their mistakes -- is that the deep recession is because of the nonimplementation of the structural reforms.”

IMF sources told Skai’s Washington correspondent Thanos Dimadis that Roumeliotis’s comments had raised questions, given that the former IMF representative had actively supported the fiscal reforms suggested by the organization in view of the debt crisis.

An IMF spokesperson told Skai that during IMF board meetings on the subject of Greece Roumeliotis had never voiced any objections regarding the policies put forward. On the contrary, noted the IMF representative, as Greece's envoy he had given his full support.