IMF expected to approve 3.3 billion euro aid for Greece
The International Monetary Fund was expected to approve a delayed 3.3 billion euro loan payment to Greece during a board meeting on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
“There will be reservations by some members of the executive board who will insist that further write-downs in Greece’s debt are needed to become sustainable, but the IMF won’t rock the boat at this stage,” one person involved in the matter told the newspaper.
Eurozone countries and the European Central Bank, Greece’s creditors along with the IMF, approved a 34.4 billion euro loan tranche in December after Greece approved a new batch of austerity measures and tax hikes and also finalized a debt buyback from private creditors which reduced Greece’s debt by 20.6 billion euros.
While the IMF had urged eurozone nations to accept a write-down of up to 50 billion euros on the principal amount owed by Greece, the proposal was eventually turned down.
An IMF report on the sustainability of Greek debt as well as additional measures for the 2015-2016 period was also expected to be released on Wednesday.
“We’ve done what we’ve been asked to do,” a Greek government official told the Wall Street Journal. “We don’t expect any problems at the IMF meeting today.”
