ATHENS: As a crucial date approaches for Greece to make a major debt payment, the markets are again weighing the possibility the country could default on its loans.
But now, after months of bitter, inconclusive negotiations over the austerity measures Greece would have to impose in order to secure desperately needed cash from Europe, government officials are grappling with very limited options for handling their cash squeeze.
On April 9, Greece must pay €458 million ($503 million) to the International Monetary Fund, a date and sum that in recent weeks have come to loom large for investors, many of whom worry how the markets would absorb a messy Greece default.
Adding to these concerns was the abrupt decision by Greece’s finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, to fly to Washington and meet with the IMF’s managing director, Christine Lagarde, on Sunday.In a statement, the IMF said Lagarde and Varoufakis were having an “informal discussion on the Greece government’s reform program.”
