Greek debt bargaining moves to Washington

The Troika and Greek delegates continue negotiations of the Greek debt at the IMF-World Bank Meeting in Washington on Thursday

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Christine Lagarde is set to show her cards on Thursday concerning the Greek program and the chances of an early exit of the IMF from the country. The troika of international creditors from the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB) and the IMF who were in Greece until Wednesday are gathering at the IMF-World Bank meetings.

Attention is focused on the message that Ms. Lagarde will send, bearing in mind that the Greek side has already expressed an interest in bidding farewell to the IMF. The 2015 Greek draft budget has already included the issue of bonds instead of more lending from the IMF.

On Wednesday, an IMF report estimated that Greece needs 25 million euros to cover its financing needs from 2015-2016, with the biggest gap considered during 2015, estimated at 10% of the GDP and 4.3% of the GDP for 2016.

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Greek Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis will be absent from the IMF-World Bank meeting on account of the “vote of confidence” being taken in parliament for the coalition government. He will remain in Athens until midnight Friday before heading to Washington for a meeting with Ms. Lagarde on Sunday afternoon, in the presence of Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras. Reports also state that Stavros Papastavrou, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ adviser, may also attend.