Oct 10th, 2016

Why Greece Is Eyeing the IMF to Help Ease Its Debt Pile

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said that Germany’s opposition to debt relief is at odds with its demands that the International Monetary Fund join the bailout program. Speaking in an interview on Friday with Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua, Tsakalotos said he conveyed this message to his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble earlier in the day. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has expressed skepticism that Greece can recover without a reduction in its debt load, though Schaeuble said as recently as Thursday that the Mediterranean country should meet its commitments, adding that it doesn’t have to pay interest for more than a decade. (Video edited to remove dead frames.)