An IMF spokesman on Thursday reiterated that no deal has been achieved as yet regarding the Greek debt issue, a pressing matter over which the Fund has demanded medium-term relief measures to ensure that the country’s debt load is sustainable.
Deputy IMF spokesman William Murray made the statement a day after Slovakian Finance Minister Peter Kažimír claimed that the Fund would rejoin the Greek bailout as a lender.
“Discussions on the debt side of the equation have only just started, so it’s really early; our position hasn’t changed,” Murray told reporters.
He praised last month’s deal over more reforms, but repeated that a debt deal is necessary.
Additionally, Murray did not clear up the ambiguity over the last year in which Greece must post a primary budget surplus of 3.5 percent. A draft of a supplementary memorandum cited the fiscal target as extending to 2020, while the leftist Greek government has pointed to 2021.
“We’re still in discussions on that and of course the debt discussions affect the primary surplus over the horizon, so until these things fall into place – I can’t really comment,” Murray said
