Debt crisis

Lagarde: IMF is threatening Greece

The International monetary Fund treat Athens fair, stresses IMF Head Christine Lagarde in a letter to Premier Tsipras. Of a participation in the third aid package was but “a good piece”.

IMF Chief Christine Lagarde reacts in the Letter to the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras outraged at reports that the international monetary Fund thought about how he could force Greece in the debt dispute in the knee. Such speculations were “simply absurd”. The IMF is the lead in the negotiations with “threats”, but “in good Faith”.

The unveiling platform Wikileaks had on Saturday
alleged Transcript of a telephone conversation between IMF Europe chief, Poul Thomsen, and the Greek representative Delia Velculescu of the net, in the advise you of to forced, such as Athens, tougher reforms could be.

Thomsen complains, therefore, Athens had embedded so far only in the case of acute bankruptcy risk of last July, to the energy-saving requirements. Velculescu replied the alleged Transcript that: “I agree that we need an event.” Which scenario of the two he had in mind, remained open.

The program must be credible

The government in Athens had a meeting on Saturday with a new sense of urgency to the Wikileaks publication is not responding. Then a government, said the spokeswoman, Athens demand explanations from the IMF, whether it is his official Position was “to create Bankruptcy conditions in Greece”. The weekly Greek newspaper “Ethnos” said Tsipras: “It looks like that some people play games with the aim to destabilize us.” The will not allow Greece but.

Lagarde adds in the letter to Tsipras, the negotiations over additional aid for Greece would be, even before graduation. An agreement is “still far”. You have repeatedly made it clear that the Fund could only support an aid program to be credible, based on realistic assumptions-based and Greece return to a path of robust growth.

This Monday, representatives from the IMF, EU-Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) in Athens to implement agreed in the summer to check 84 billion Euro third rescue package. The IMF is not participating in the financing, because he is doubting the debt sustainability of Athens.

gri/SC (afp, rtr, dpa)