IMF: We are not prepared to discuss a new rescue plan for Greece

“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European partners are not ready yet to discuss the details of the second bailout package for Greece,” said Christine Lagarde, the fund’s new Managing Director, quoted by Bloomberg. Her statement came at a time when the clouds hanging over Spain and Italy that they might be the next countries facing a debt crisis thickened.

“As regards a possible new programme, in my view we’re not at the stage of discussing the conditions and terms and length and volume, and nothing should be taken for granted,” newly-appointed IMF Managing Director Lagarde pointed out and appealed to Athens to make more efforts to deal with its problems.

“Greece did a lot of work in order to reduce the deficit and return the budget balance to 5% of GDP. This is a remarkable achievement. However, we all know that is not sufficient and more needs to be done. The current problems should be settled between the partners - the Greek Government, the IMF, the European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB) and other countries,” explained Lagarde. She stressed that all representatives of Greece - both members of the Government and of the Opposition – should take part in the talks for finding a solution. “The IMF is not just a cash machine or a grant machine, so rescue programmes must include macroeconomic measures and reforms,” added Lagarde. IMF’s share in the present €110 bn bailout package to Greece is €30 bn. The rest comes from the ECB and the EU.

To Italy, which is also rumoured to be on the threshold of a debt crisis like that in Greece, she recommended to seek ways for accelerating economic growth, which will restore the markets’ trust. According to her, IMF’s recent review of Italy’s economy showed some excellent figures. However, it is crucial for the country to tackle the budget deficit and reduce it to below 3% by 2012.

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