IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde herself emphasized on Thursday that the Fund has not asked for new austerity measures from the government in still bailout-dependent Greece.
Lagarde made the statement during a wide-ranging press conference in Washington D.C., ahead of the IMF/World Bank annual autumn meetings in the US capital and in the wake of revised IMF forecasts over memorandum-mandated primary budget surplus targets
In response to a question by a Greek reporter asking about a debt solution and the “clear exit” scenario being promoting by the embattled Tsipras government, Lagarde said:
“..First of all let me acknowledge that there has been a lot of work done over the years and huge efforts consented by the Greek people, and it’s immensely impressive in that respect. Second, we have, in July, agreed to a program that is obviously subject to the debt restructuring that we have always consistently indicated as necessary. Third, we are not asking for any new measure, whatsoever, and we will simple be attentive to compliance with the commitments made by the Greek authorities …
“…we’ll continue discussions with the European partners, and the Greek authorities, and members of the ‘quadriga’ to see that this debt sustainability is arrived at and what measures will be necessary in the process.”
She also said that the IMF will continue to cooperate with the ESM.
