–Assessing Debt Sustainability Always Part of Talks on Any Program
–Welcome Draghi Remarks; Still See Room for More ECB Easing
By Heather Scott
WASHINGTON (MNI) – The current talks by the IMF team with the new
government of Greece on the financial aid program are expected to
continue for more than a month, and the nation’s debt sustainabilty will
be part of those discussions, as they are for any program country, an
IMF spokesman said Thursday.
Asked if the International Monetary Fund was involved in a
renegotiation of Greece’s official sector debt, fund spokesman David
Hawley told reporters, “Assessing debt sustainability always part of our
work with any country where a program is in place, and that is work that
continues in Greece.”
Hawley said it is “premature to talk about outcomes” of the talks
with Greece.
The IMF “mission is in the field. This is opportunity for first
substantive discussion with new government … We expect discussions on
program to continue into September,” Hawley told reporters at the
regular biweekly briefing.
Early in July, a fund official acknowledged Greece had missed some
targets and said it would be important to get the program back on track.
The IMF would be willing in the current talks to discuss alternative
ways of achieving those targets, he said.
The program had set a target of reducing Greece’s debt to below
120% of GDP by 2020, but IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned
in March that there was “no room for slippages.”
Hawley also welcomed the comments by European Central Bank
President Mario Draghi earlier Thursday, reiterating that “the ECB is
ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.”
However, Hawley repeated the IMF stance that “We welcome action on
July 5, we continue to see need for further monetary easing and
unconventional support.”
** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
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