“Better safe than sorry” is apparently the IMF’s policy vis-à-vis the Greek issue over the coming period, with a spokesman saying that although the Fund doesn’t expect the country to leave the euro area, “contingency plans” could be on the drawing boards.

IMF spkesman Gerry Rice told reporters on Thursday that “…our baseline position is that we don’t expect an exit … As with all other countries, we are always looking at different scenarios… that is par for the course with the IMF.”.

Rice repeated said that the leftist government in Athens had not given the IMF sufficient access to its accounts for the latter to determine if Greece has sufficient cash to meet all of its coming obligations, including instalments to the IMF nearing … one billion euros by May 12.