WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Monday agreed to release a 2.2 billion euro ($2.95 billion) aid disbursement to Greece, part of a three-year IMF-EU bailout package to help the debt-stricken country avoid bankruptcy.
"The executive board of the International Monetary Fund today completed the fifth review of Greece's economic performance under a program supported by a three-year Stand-By Arrangement for Greece," the IMF said in a brief statement.
The disbursement brings to 20.3 billion the sum paid out to Greece so far under the 30 billion euro IMF loan agreed in May last year. It is part of a bigger 110 billion euro rescue package for the country.
The approval of the latest aid tranche followed assurances by Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and his new unity government that the country would stick to terms of a debt reduction deal.
Last week, European leaders approved an 8 billion euro tranche for Greece.
An IMF mission will travel to Athens between December 12 and December 16 for preliminary discussions with the new coalition on economic policies.
I saw this coming, since Greece has been in economic problems for a while now. In my opinion Greece had no other choice but to turn to the IMF-EU. Its good because Greece will be in good economic conditions under the IMF-EU, but its also bad because they have to abide by their rules and economic policies that the IMF has in mind.
Jose Acosta
Maness 10 am
i agree with your opinion that they had no other choice. in reality, the EU should have been only for the more affluent nations. Greece and other countries i could mention had no business going in and ruining the economy. Greece's main economy is in tourism. they don't really export much except for farm goods and fish. they are a relatively poor country because most of their wealth is in land, not in the banks. i think it would be better for them to drop out and go back to the way things were.
ReplyDeletemarla k
ryan 9am