IMF: Greece should skip paying interest until 2040

The Fund wants Greece’s interest rate to be fixed at 1.5% for the next 30-40 years

The proposal on Greek debt relief submitted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) includes more brave actions than those proposed by ESM, as the Wall Street Journal writes.

IMF asks the eurozone to let Greece skip paying interest or principal on bailout loans until 2040 and wants the loans to Greece to fall due gradually in the following decades, and as late as 2080.

Moreover, IMF wants Greece’s interest rate on eurozone loans to be fixed for 30 to 40 years at its current average level of 1.5%, with all interest payments postponed until loans start falling due.

As WSJ reports, the IMF’s proposal would keep Greece’s annual debt-service needs below 15% of its gross domestic product, under the IMF’s relatively pessimistic forecast for Greece’s long-term economic trajectory.

The IMF’s demands, though, go far beyond what Greece’s eurozone creditors have said they are willing to do to help Greece regain its financial health.

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