IMF’s Gerry Rice says troika talks ‘difficult, sensitive’
Ongoing negotiations between the Greek government and envoys representing the country’s troika of international creditors are focusing on “difficult” and “sensitive” issues, Gerry Rice, a spokesman for the International Monetary Fund said in Washington late on Thursday, noting that the foreign auditors would return to Athens in January to continue the talks.
Rice pointed to a recent interview given by the IMF’s envoy to Greece, Poul Thomsen, to Kathimerini, noting that it offered “a good overview of the main issues that are outstanding, that need to be resolved in the course of this review.”
As regards the thorny issue of home foreclosures, one of several points of contention in the talks, Rice described it as an important issue that must be resolved in a way that is “balanced” and “fair.”
During his briefing to reporters, Rice said there would be discussion about debt restructuring in the summer of 2014 but, as a spokeswoman for the Fund clarified later, the reference was not related to the issue of Greece’s debt but to an analysis of “experiences from around the world.”
