ATHENS The pulse of Greece with international creditors surprised this week with a twist by the decision of Athens to invoke a loophole, last used by Zambia in 1980 , to avoid paying the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and group your debts into one due in late June.
Everything seemed ready for Greece to return these 305 million euros maturing on Friday pledged total, 1,600 million euros in June, as part of international rescue part of the IMF, told Efe.
In fact, in a press conference on Thursday, the director of the Fund, Christine Lagarde, he showed “confident” get paid and defending the common proposal submitted by the European Central Bank and the European Commission this week as “flexible” and intended to “soften” the need to “stabilize” the Greek economy setting.
However, the surprise broke just hours later when the Fund spokesman Gerry Rice, sent a brief statement to reporters that shattered the previous speech Lagarde.
In it, Rice explained that the Greek authorities had informed the IMF that “planning group the four payments due from the country in June one, maturing on June 30 “.
Even then, the agency spokeswoman tinged the decision was within the legality of the Fund, the truth is that the announcement of delay in payment It has raised tension in a ample negotiations and of drama and suspense.
The markets reacted downwards, the Athens stock exchange fell 4.96% on Friday, and some analysts acknowledged their disbelief at the new chapter conversations.
“It shows that Syriza (the party of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras) has no shame. Greece is a country of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, can not really be in the same group as Zambia, highlights the lack of credibility of Syriza, “said Jacob Kirkegaard, a researcher of the study center Interanational Peterson Institute for Economics, conservative trend.
Kirkegaard was referring to the last time a member of the Fund had made use of this clause, when the African country did half of the 1980s.
“You may think (the Greek government) to reach an agreement soon, but only if they make concessions. If so, it makes sense. If not, only shows how desperate they are, “he said.
The IMF debt is considered in international markets as a priority over other payments, so that countries try to settle their accounts with the body within the deadlines set.
From Greece, however, it was argued that the country has the funds necessary to repay the debt, so the delay “was decided on political grounds” in the words Labour Minister Panos Skurletis, which added fuel to the fire.
Meanwhile, the Center for Economic and Policy Research (Centre for Economic and Policy Research, CEPR), more progressive, interpreted Athens as far as a bombshell showing that “international creditors do not have all the cards, as many thought.”
“The Government of Syriza, meanwhile, is proving that elections have consequences, and that the European authorities, who are primarily responsible for more than six years of depression in Greece, they have to give, “said Mark Weisbrot, CEPR.
Late on Friday Tsipras was less belligerent in a speech to parliament and said his government wants a “comprehensive solution” that also resolves the question of debt.
He claimed further that the decision to “transfer payments the IMF at the end of the month shows that no one wants to break “but used the occasion to criticize the joint proposal of international creditors, who described as” illogical “and” unpleasant surprise “.
He reiterated, again, that the Greek government’s plan is a “realistic basis” for negotiations, without elaborating, “they have entered their final phase” and successfully completed according to him.
For now it is not known how they continue negotiations, or if Tsipras is scheduled to meet with President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, or on behalf of creditor institutions in the coming days.
Meanwhile, countdown continues.
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