Friday, October 9, 2015
Greek debt is not sustainable at the moment and Greek authorities must carry out more reforms to the country's pension system and in the way Greek banks are managed, Christine Lagarde, head of the Iternational Monetary Fund said yesterday (8.10).
Presenting a Global Policy Agenda at the World Bank-IMF annual meetings in Lima, Peru, Lagarde reiterated that the IMF was willing to provide assistance to Greece as requested, provided Greece’s debt is reduced to sustainable levels and that significant reforms are implemented, principally in the country’s pension system and in bank governance. In its latest World Economic Outlook report released October 6, the IMF trimmed its eurozone growth outlook to 1.5 percent this year, warning that a modest recovery remains hostage to market pressure risks, if uncertainty returns regarding the implementation of Greece’s third bailout programme.
The IMF's Fiscal Monitor Report has also revised its estimates as regards the Greek budget primary balance and the debt from the targets that the bailout agreement had set in August, asserting that additional measures for the Greek economy may have to be introduced, if Greece is to meet its 2015 primary deficit targets of 0.25%, as that is prescribed by the bailout.
The Greek FinMin Euclid Tsakalotos is attending the IMF/WB annual meetings and will be holding over the weekend a series of meetings with both IMF and US officials. This week, during the parliamentary debate on the government’s policy statement, Tsakalotos has reassured that Greece's economy will suffer a less severe recession this year than assumed last August, given some more encouraging indications from the third quarter.
