Greece: Christine Lagarde and the temptation of Grexit – L’Express

This is one of the phrases that do not fall on deaf oreil. “The exit of Greece (the euro area) is a possibility,” said the president of the IMF, which assists in Dresden, Germany, at a meeting of G7 finance ministers, in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).

Blow pressure on Greece

“Grexit” does not mean “the end of the euro,” said Christine Lagarde, according to the FAZ .

But it is something “which I hope the Europeans will not face because they will find, hopefully, a way to agree on the future of Greece in the euro area, “she added, as additional statements published by the IMF to” clarify and put in context “the interview which caused a stir, as it fits into the context of complicated negotiations between Greece and its creditors.

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The negotiations between Greece and its creditors drag on

The tone had escalated between the institution of Washington and the Greek government.

“It is very unlikely we arrive at a comprehensive solution in the coming days”, has insisted the former finance minister, bringing a new contradiction to the statements of Athens Wednesday under which a draft agreement was being drafted.

The government of Alexis Tsipras negotiating since late February with the IMF, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commission, on reform commitments that would result in the release of 7.2 billion euros Athens promised financial assistance. The discussions were extremely difficult, requests from many institutions against the election promises of the Greek Prime Minister.

The negotiations had advanced in early May but “in recent weeks we have again had some disappointments,” the IMF Managing Director.

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Threats

“We have rules, we have principles, “Christine Lagarde also insisted in the interview in FAZ.

One of these principles, recalled by the IMF in Washington, is that “any country that does not honor its commitments to the Fund (…) is declared in a situation of arrears and has no access to IMF financing. ”

The evocation by Lagarde’s the possibility of a “Grexit” to use the term market price, made even more noise than the European leaders against revealing this scenario in public, repeating over and over again that the position of Greece is “in the euro” and that there was “no plan B”.