IMF’s Thomsen praises progress, says more work to do
After representatives of Greece's international creditors failed to hammer out a deal on bailout funding and debt relief in Brussels, Poul Thomsen of the International Monetary Fund told reporters on Monday that measures legislated by the Greek parliament are "strong" but more needs to be done before the IMF comes on board.
"This is a very strong program that the Greeks have adopted last week," he said. "It is the kind a program that will allow a much more growth-friendly fiscal policy in Greece over the medium term," he said, adding that that it tackles "difficult issues" like pension and tax reform.
"It a kind of program that the IMF can support," he said, adding however that, "we are making progress but we are not quite not there yet." "There is a need for a bit more realism in the assumptions and for more specificity."
Thomsen said that creditors "accept the basic assumptions of the May 2016 agreement" and that debt relief does not need to be finally calibrated to its last detail before end of program.
"But we still need a bit more specificity about what will come at the end of the ESM program," he said, referring to the period from 2019 after Greece's third bailout ends.
