The meeting between Greek PM Alexis Tsipras and the IMF head, Christine Lagarde at Davos on Thursday, opened the prospect of the Fund remaining onboard the Greek bailout programme in an active (technical) role even after the completion of the third programme.
The agreement between the two on the significance of ending the matter of the Greek debt and for Athens to focus and accelerate reforms points to an IMF that wants to contribute and be part of the developments rather than one that wants to disengage and is preparing to withdraw from the eurozone and Greece.
The position expressed by Mrs Lagarde after the meeting, which was shared by the Greek PM, was essentially, on the one hand, a message to Greece’s EU partners for a debt relief that would make it sustainable and open the door for a participation of the IMF in the current programme, and on the other hand, a caution to Greece to continue implementing the reform measures.
In practical terms, this means that the IMF’s active presence after the completion of the third MoU, would rule out the possibility of postponing the new pension cuts voted in to take affect from January 1, 2019.
Nevertheless, the intentions of the IMF’s were not made clear from the Davos meeting, allowing only for speculation based in the statements made public by Mrs Lagarde. Mr Tsipras is reported to have requested a clearer stance by the head off the IMF during their meeting. In February, the IMF is expected to will re-examine the situation, which could change its position on the matter.