ECONOMY

Greece does not have the money to make June IMF repayment, warns interior minister

Greece cannot make debt repayments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month unless it achieves a deal with creditors, its interior minister said on Sunday, the most explicit remarks yet from Athens about the likelihood of default if talks fail.

Shut out of bond markets and with bailout aid locked, cash-strapped Athens has been scraping state coffers to meet debt obligations and to pay wages and pensions.

After four months of talks with its eurozone partners and the IMF, the country’s leftist-led government is still scrambling for a deal that could release up to 7.2 billion euros ($7.9 billion) in remaining aid to avert bankruptcy.

“The four installments for the IMF in June are 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion). This money will not be given and is not there to be given,” Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis told Greek Mega TV’s weekend show.

Asked about his concern over a credit event if Athens misses a payment, he said: “We are not seeking this, we don’t want it, it is not our strategy. Things have matured for a deal of logic.”

“We are discussing, based on our contained optimism, that there will be a strong agreement (with lenders) so that the country will be able to breathe. This is the bet,” Voutsis said.

[Reuters]

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