The IMF continued to toe a strict line vis-a-vis the Greek program, nearly a month before the third and last bailout ends on Aug. 21, with the Fund on Thursday recommending that labor sector reforms in the country be maintained, including a more pro-business framework for collective bargaining agreements.
In a relevant report made public at around noon in Washington D.C., the Fund said liberalization in Greece’s labor market should not be overturned – a nod against reinstating obligatory collective bargaining agreements between social partners, unions and employers, etc. The IMF said competitiveness in the country’s recovering economy would suffer, otherwise.
The Fund also called for the implementation of European “best practices” in the regime governing mass layoffs, while also calling for accelerated efforts to open up so-called “closed professions”, with priority given to the fields of engineers, attorneys and notary publics – a long-standing recommendation by the OECD.
