Finance Minister Philippos Sachinidis met with International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde in Washington on April 22, on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meeting held over the weekend.

In statements, following his talks with Lagarde, Sahinidis said that "today, there is greater optimism for the country's exit from the crisis. We discussed the progress in the implementation of the programme and the budget execution  in the first quarter of 2012, which is on target." The minister also said that, while in Washington, he had several meetings with IMF and US government officials, with whom he discussed current Greek and international economic developments.

Finance Ministry: Sachinidis Statements [in Greek]