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IMF pressing demands outside bailout agreement, Athens says

IMF pressing demands outside bailout agreement, Athens says

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is pressing demands which are outside Greece's bailout agreement with creditors, the government spokeswoman said Wednesday, accusing the Washington-based institution of undermining the role of the Greek government and European Union institutions.

“The IMF is putting forward demands which are outside the [bailout] agreement and which are undermining the efforts made by the government and the European institutions,” Gerovasili said during a press briefing in reference to the Fund's insistence for contingency measures.

Gerovasili criticized the IMF for rejecting a Greek proposal to instead introduce a mechanism that would automatically trigger spending cutbacks if budget targets are missed.

“The legislation of contingent measures is not within the framework of the [Greek] Constitution and it is not within the framework of European legal values,” she said.

The left-led government has said Greek law prohibits it from legislating on a hypothetical event.

Disagreement over the measures led to a collapse of talks between Athens and lenders late Tuesday, prompting Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem to scrap plans for a special meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Thursday.

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