Greece facing default by June 5 unless it gets aid

Greece cannot make an upcoming payment to the IMF on June 5 unless foreign lenders disburse more aid, a senior ruling party politician said yesterday, the latest warning from Athens that it is on the verge of default.

Prime minister Alexis Tsipras’s leftist government says it hopes to reach a cash-for-reforms deal in days, although EU and IMF lenders are more pessimistic and say talks are moving too slowly for that.

Greek officials now point to a race against the clock to clinch a deal before payments totalling about €1.5bn to the IMF come due next month, starting with a €300m payment on June 5.