An across-the-board interview by the IMF's mission chief for Greece to "N" this week apparently "ruffled feathers" in Athens, with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras charging that the people "who imposed taxes on us are now telling us to lower taxes".
Tsipras was responding to a press question related to the interview by IMF executive Delia Velculescu, which was published in the Wednesday edition of "N".
He also disagreed with the IMF's predictions on various facets of the Greek program, as detailed by Velculescu, saying that the Fund's forecasts have often proved wrong in the past.
Nevertheless, the leftist premier skirted around Velculescu's very high-profile observation that Greece's current social security system is unsustainable.
In reference to Tuesday's first foray into the capital markets by Greece in three years - and the first by his leftist-rightist coalition government - Tsipras repeated that the development opens a path towards a full economic recovery and exit from the bailouts, "although we must be cautious".
Tsipras' prickly reaction to Velculescu's unexpected comments - which he expressed during a prime-time interview given to a private Athens television station - came a day after Cabinet ministers and the pro-government press hailed the sale of a five-year, three-billion-euro bond as an unadulterated success.
