Greece and the IMF; Lagarde-Tsipras

Letter to the Prime Minister of Greece from Christine Lagarde (April 3 Press Release)

Excerpts:

"My view of the ongoing negotiations is that we are still a good distance away from having a coherent program that I can present to our Executive Board. I have on many occasions stressed that we can only support a program that is credible and based on realistic assumptions, and that delivers on its objective of setting Greece on a path of robust growth while gradually restoring debt sustainability.

Otherwise it would fail to re-establish confidence, with the implication, among others, that Greece would soon again be forced to adopt yet more measures. Of course, any speculation that IMF staff would consider using a credit event as a negotiating tactic is simply nonsense...

I agree with you that successful negotiations are built on mutual trust, and this weekend’s incident has made me concerned as to whether we can indeed achieve progress in a climate of extreme sensitivity to statements of either side. On reflection, however, I have decided to allow our team to return to Athens to continue the discussions..."

eKathimerini report (English)

Kathimerini report (Greek)

Ethnos online (Greek) - Επιθετική απάντηση Λαγκάρντ στον Αλέξη Τσίπρα

Με πολλές αιχμές και ειρωνικό, σε κάποια σημεία τόνο, η γενική διευθύντρια του Διεθνούς Νομισματικού Ταμείου απάντησε στην επιστολή με την οποία ο Αλέξης Τσίπρας την καλούσε να απαντήσει κατα πόσον οι απόψεις Τόμσεν που είδαν το φως της δημοσιότητας από τη διαρροή των WikiLeaks, απηχούν και τις θέσεις του Ταμείου.

EU Observer - Greece embroiled in bailout row with IMF

Merkel: Greek deal must include IMF, but no debt relief, eKathimerini