Greece and IMF agree April repayment as talks continue

7 Apr 15

Greece will repay €450m to the International Monetary Fund on Thursday under the terms of its original bailout deal, it was confirmed over the weekend.

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde met with Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis for an ‘informal discussion’ in Washington to discuss on the country’s government reform programme.

Lagarde said in a statement released after the meeting on Sunday that Varoufakis had agreed to cooperate and confirmed Greece would make the next payment due to the fund on April 9.

‘Minister Varoufakis and I exchanged views on current developments and we both agreed that effective cooperation is in everyone’s interest. We noted that continuing uncertainty is not in Greece’s interest and I welcomed confirmation by the minister that payment owing to the fund would be forthcoming on April 9,’ Lagarde said.

She said due diligence in Athens and policy discussions with the teams in Brussels over the terms of Greece’s bailout would ‘resume promptly on Monday.’

Lagarde added that the IMF remains committed to working with the Greek authorities to help Greece ‘return to a sustainable path of growth and employment’.

Varoufakis said after the meeting that the Syriza-led government planned to ‘reform Greece deeply’ and was looking to improve the ‘efficacy of negotiations’ with creditors.

The need for new bailout terms came after the Left-wing Syriza party won the country’s elections in January and promised to end the austerity the country has faced since 2010. The government, led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, pledged to end some cuts and halt privatisation of state assets.

Greece is thought to need additional funds from the troika of international institutions – the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank – before the end of April to avoid default.

  • Judith Ugwumadu
    Judith Ugwumadu

    Judith writes about public finance, public services and economics across Public Finance International and Public Finance. She previously undertook reporting stints at Financial Adviser, Global Security Finance and The Sunday Express.

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