Merkel supports IMF participation and rules out debt haircut

She said that a debt haircut for Greece was not possible so long it remains in the euro zone

It seems that the phone-tapping incident of the conversation between Poul Thomsen and Delia Velculescu revealed by Wikileaks had no effect in Greece’s lenders regarding their stance towards the Greek government and the Greek program.

The IMF remains as powerful as it was, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel clarifying that Germany wants the IMF to participate in the program.

“The German position is that the IMF is taking part in an agreement… We want a quick conclusion to these talks,” Mrs. Merkel said during a joint press conference with IMF Head Christine Lagarde, following their meeting in Berlin.

“The German position is that the IMF is taking part in an agreement… We want a quick conclusion to these talks,” adding that “It’s not a demand of the federal government to have no debt haircut but rather in our opinion this is legally not possible in the eurozone,”.