Greece’s influential central banker was quoted on Sunday as saying that the IMF should not be persuaded otherwise if it wants to exit the Greek program, fueling speculation ahead of negotiations aimed to conclude the third review of the ongoing bailout.
“If it (IMF) wants to leave, then it should leave … we don’t need them,” Bank of Greece (BoG) Gov. Yannis Stournaras was quoted as saying by the Athens weekly “To Vima”.
Stournaras’ high-profile statement was carried a day before the Euro Working Group will convene on Monday, a session that is expected to mark the commencement of negotiations.
Stournaras has previously served as a top economic aide to the one-time Simitis government in the run-up to Greece’s joining the common Euro zone in 2002, followed by a stint as president of one-time Emporiki Bank before assuming the post of finance minister in the previous Samaras coalition government. His assumption of the independent BoG’s helm preceded leftist SYRIZA party’s landslide victory in January 2015.
