Unexpected Greek meeting with IMF

Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis met International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde in Washington yesterday to discuss a set of planned reforms that Athens hopes will unlock much-needed bailout funds.

The unexpected meeting was billed as “an informal discussion” on Greece’s reform plan, the finance ministry and the IMF said. Mr Varoufakis is also expected to meet US Treasury officials today.

Greece is fast running out of cash and its eurozone and IMF lenders have frozen bailout aid until the leftist-led government reaches agreement on a package of reforms.

Greek officials had suggested this week that government would prioritise wages and pensions over meeting the conditions necessary to unblock a €450 million loan tranche to the IMF due on April 9th, reviving fears of a Greek default.

Obligations

However, government spokesman

Gabriel Sakellaridis

said there is “no chance that Greece will not meet its obligations”. Greece has not received bailout funds since August and has resorted to measures such as borrowing from state entities via repo transactions.

After a first set of planned measures failed to impress lenders, Athens sent a more detailed list to institutions representing the creditors – the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF – on Wednesday. But the list arrived too late to be discussed by eurozone deputy finance ministers – the Euro Working Group that can decide whether to grant new loans to Greece – at a teleconference on Wednesday afternoon.

EU officials have said that progress had been made in talks but more work was needed for a deal to be reached.

"It is necessary to restore the Greek economy's funding flow," Labour minister Panos Skourletis told Greek Ependysi newspaper, accusing the country's lenders of taking advantage of Greece's funding limits to add pressure on Athens.

“Whether the country will meet its external obligations depends on our lenders’ final political choices and stance,” he said, adding that pensions and wages were not at risk.

Greece has its hopes set on another meeting of eurozone ministers on April 8th and 9th, although it is unlikely that a deal could be reached by then. The next meeting will take place on April 24th in Riga.

-(Reuters)