The IMF threw the SYRIZA government in Athens another “curve ball” on Thursday, with a spokesman in Athens saying the Fund’s leadership has not decided yet whether it will participate in the latest, and third, bailout program for Greece.
Leaders of Eurozone countries last week said IMF involvement was a prerequisite for creditors to proceed with a new three-year, 77-billion-euro bailout for the crisis-ridden country. The fund’s own financing program with Greece expires next March.
On the brighter side, the Fund is also increasingly vocal in demanding that eurozone lenders commit to a detailed debt-restructuring plan for Greece, which Athens perceives more along the lines of a debt “haircut”.
“On the debt relief, there would need to be a specific, concrete commitment,” said top IMF spokesman Gerry Rice during a regular press briefing.