ATHENS: The Deputy Finance Minister of Greece stated that Greece will pay loan trench of €450 million to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on time, seeking to quell fears of default after a flurry of contradictory statements on the issue in recent days.
Interior minister to suggest this week that Athens would prioritize wages and pensions over the roughly 450 million euro ($489 million) payment to the IMF, though the government denied that was its stance.Eurozone officials then said Greece told them it would run out of money on Thursday, which the finance ministry denied saying.”We strive to be able to pay our obligations on time, Dimitris Mardas told Greece’s Skai TV. “We are ready to pay on April 9.”
Athens has not received bailout funds since August and has resorted to last-ditch measures such as borrowing from state entities via repo transactions to tide it through the cash crunch.The government is hoping approval of its latest reforms package will unlock remaining aid of 7.2 billion euros under its EU/IMF bailout and lead to the return of about 1.9 billion euros in profits made by the European Central Bank on Greek bonds.
