support the director of the Fund, Christine Lagarde. And despite the fierce attacks of Alexis Tsipras in the previous period against the body, but claims that it does not need the participation of the Greek programme, ms Lagarde “nailed” the Greek prime minister, in yesterday’s interview in “Le Parisien”.
“To commit ourselves on the side of Greece, which has asked the Greek prime minister, shall, in addition to the reforms, the debt to be sustainable,” said the head of the Fund in the French journal. “This requires a restructuring that could be done with various effects, such as with a significant elongation of the repayments or with very low ceilings of interest rates,” he explained.
Once again, ms Lagarde stressed that the reduction does not mean “haircut”, but can be achieved through significant επιμηκÏνσεων loan support and low ceiling on interest rates for repayment.
As expected, this statement of mr. Lagarde has dominated the Press conference by the prime minister after the end of the Summit in Brussels yesterday. In response to a question, mr. Tsipras said that “I have asked the IMF not to fly the ball in front, but to have a comprehensive solution for the debt”. As he said, “I asked Lagarde to not waste time and be committed to provide debt relief”.
Thomsen: unsustainable debt, marry the surpluses of 3.5%
“Non-viable” featured the Greek debt, the Director of the European Sector of the IMF Poole Thomsen, who attended at an event of the Atlantic Council in Washington, dc, in the same panel with the former chief economist of the IMF Olivier Blanchard.
The Thomsen stressed that any reform effort will not work without some kind of debt restructuring. Likewise made it very clear that no relief will not help Greece without a more powerful structural reforms.
On the objectives of the programme for primary surpluses of 3.5% and asked specifically about whether there will be effects on the development, the Danish official said that the IMF called for a target of 1.5%.
“Greece, with the Europeans agreed to 3.5%. Of course this will have a negative effect on the development for a while. There is no doubt,” he said.
Front with the SW
Attack on prime minister Alexis Tsipras has unleashed the SW after the statements of the head of the IMF Christine Lagarde.
“Until now we knew that the Government through the Minister of Finance had asked by letter, in July 2015, the involvement of the IMF in the third Memorandum. Today, we learn that mr Tsipras has asked the madam Lagarde the commitment of the eve of the IMF.
When you cherished regular in the interior of the country demonises and attacks the IMF, at the same time abroad begging on the eve of the μνημονιακό program. So much nerve, so much hypocrisy,” he mentioned, inter alia, in the communication of the SW.
Government sources, for their part, however, commenting later on the interview with Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Bloomberg left spikes to the leader of the opposition.
“The new look of mr. Mitsotakis in Bloomberg was not accompanied by a change of attitude. And again donned the jersey of the IMF, and continued to give lessons of political opportunism and cynicism. See the doomsday of the narrative to fall apart, and confirms every day the strategic stalemate, the international audience,” reported characteristics.
As you stressed, mr Mitsotakis accused again the government that is delaying the closure of the assessment, while concealing the fact that she is due in December 2015 worded insistence of the IMF in unreasonable measures of eur 4.5 billion. euro.
The Lagarde insists on the debt, Tsipras opens the door to the IMF
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