Greece demands clarity from IMF

Greece has demanded an explanation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after an apparently leaked transcript suggested the IMF may threaten to pull out of the country’s bailout as a tactic to force European lenders to offer more debt relief.

EU/IMF lenders will resume talks on Greece’s fiscal and reform progress in Athens today, aiming to conclude a bailout review that will unlock further loans and pave the way for negotiations on long-desired debt restructuring.

The review has been adjourned twice since January due to a rift among the lenders over the estimated size of Greece’s fiscal gap by 2018, as well as disagreements with Athens on pension reforms and the management of bad loans.