Brussels eyeing Greek debt agreement by June 21 Eurogroup
All of the decisions regarding Greece’s exit from the bailout, including measures to lighten the country’s huge debt pile, will be decided at the Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance ministers on June 21, regardless of whether the International Monetary Fund is on board, a senior European official said on Tuesday.
Speaking to journalists at a briefing ahead of a Eurogroup meeting on Thursday, the unnamed official expressed satisfaction over the staff-level agreement reached on Saturday between the institutions and the Greek government, stressing, however, that talks are at a crucial stage regarding the IMF’s participation, which relies on debt-relief measures.
He said that authorities in Brussels are working towards making the activation of the IMF program possible and said that a more detailed discussion on the matter of Greece’s debt would take place on Thursday.
The official added that the IMF”s participation is crucial to the “reliability” of Greece’s exit from the program, clarifying that the Fund would remain involved in monitoring the post-bailout phase regardless. [Combined reports]
