Greece orders €459-million loan payment to IMF: official
The Greek government has given the order to repay a 459-million-euro (USD 497-million) loan installment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an official says.
The disbursement was being processed and carried out, a Finance Ministry official said on condition of anonymity on Thursday.
Later this month, Athens is further required to make interest payments of nearly 400-million euros (USD 433-million) and roll over 2.4-billion euros (USD 2.6-billion) in treasury bills due to expire on April 14 and 17.
However, Greece has not received any money from its multi-billion rescue loan since last August, and is quickly running low on cash.
Athens has also failed to secure funds from the international bond market due to sky-high borrowing rates that reflect a lack of confidence in the country being able to repay its debts.
Greece’s debt stems from the 240-billion-euro bailout loan it received from its international creditors -- the European Central Bank (ECB), the IMF and the European Commission -- to prevent bankruptcy in 2010.
The new government in Athens has been engaged in ongoing negotiations with the so-called troika of international lenders to renegotiate the terms of its multi-billion euro bailout.
On February 20, a tentative agreement to extend Greece’s bailout program by four months was reached during preparatory talks between Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Eurogroup chairman, Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
Experts from the EU and the IMF are now going through the details of a list of reforms provided by Athens, which could unlock another 7.2-billion euro (USD 7.8 billion) in loans.
Greece’s creditors are urging the country to cut pensions and go ahead with civil service layoffs and a number of major privatizations, which the government expressed its opposition to in January.
GMA/MKA/SS
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