The attention of Athens and Brussels today and tomorrow is focused on the spring meeting of the IMF and World Bank, on the sidelines of which representatives of Greece’s creditors and the IMF will hold talks to agree on Greek debt relief measures.
The Europeans appear pleased with the medium-term projections for the Greek economy, released on Tuesday by the IMF, as they converge more than previously with European projections, according to a report by the state-run Athens News Agency.
European officials appear convinced that the IMF is prepared to activate its programme for Greece before the end of the European component of the current bailout.
Last summer, the IMF agreed in principle to a programme for Greece which would be contingent on the Europeans taking adequate debt relief measures to render the Greek national debt viable.
Moreover, the Eurogroup Working Group over the last months has been attempting to flesh out viable post-bailout debt relief measures, including the French proposal to directly link the servicing of the debt to Greece’s growth rate.
Debt relief for Greece will also be discussed by the so-called Washington Group, the meeting of the finance ministers of Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, with the representatives of Greece’s creditors – the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the European Stability Mechanism – and IMF chief Christine Lagarde.
This will be the first official discussion of Greek debt relief with Germany’s new finance minister, Olaf Scholz.
