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Παρασκευή, 29 Ιουνίου 2018 11:58

Greek rep to IMF: Next report by Fund more positive for Greece than previous one

Greece's representative to the IMF, Michalis Psalidopoulos, on Friday said an upcoming report by the Fund on Greece will be more "positive than the previous one", a closely watched report that will include a debt sustainability analysis.

Greece's representative to the IMF, Michalis Psalidopoulos, on Friday said an upcoming report by the Fund on Greece will be more "positive than the previous one", a closely watched report that will include a debt sustainability analysis.

Speaking on Parliament's television channel, he also left open the possibility of a "renegotiation" of another round of pension cuts - due to come on line on Jan. 1, 2018 - and which the Greek government has already agreed to with creditors, as far back as 2016.

He also opined that a Eurogroup decision earlier this month guarantees the sustainability of the Greek debt, at least in the medium term - echoing the IMF's position. The Fund's leadership, however, has standing concerns over the sustainability of the debt in the long term.

"The agreement puts the debt issue in a secure course, at least until 2032-33," he said.

 Psalidopoulos, who taught economics at Tufts between 2010-2014, was nominated as Greece's representative to the IMF back in June 2015, by then Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, and at height of a crisis between the Tsipras leftist-rightist coalition government and the country's institutional creditors.

The government ordered capital controls in late June 2015 after announcing a controversial referendum - on a withdrawn offer by creditors - in the wake of shambolic negotiations with creditors over the previous five months.