International Monetaray Fund (IMF) Chief Christine Lagarde said on Thursday that there have been no delays in payments made to the IMF in the last 30 years. “We’ve never had an advanced country [Greece] ask for a delayed payment. I myself would not support it,” said Lagarde, in response to a Financial Times report concerning an alleged Greek request for an extension to the payment of its installment.
Lagarde underlined that delays to payments by Greece is not recommended at the current stage. “Our advice is the same, to get on with the work of improving the short and medium-term economic prospects,” she said. “We want to restore the stability of the Greek economy, and I hope everyone involved can continue the work at a faster pace.”
Earlier, FT had reported that Greek officials had made an unofficial request for an extension to the deadline for the repayment. The same article states that “no rescheduling was possible.”
FT states that Athens was swayed not to proceed with an official request to the IMF for the submission of 1 bln euros in two installments in May.
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