Back to the wall, Greece formally requests help from the IMF – L’Express

Friday formally asking the help of IMF , Greece has ticked another box on the list drawn up by its creditors, even as preparations for a new bailout of the country seemed to skate .

If folding a request on July 13 at a summit high voltage by other States of the euro zone, the finance minister Tsakalotos Euclid wrote: “We want to inform you that we require a new credit from the International Monetary Fund “, in a letter published Friday. The Fund confirmed Friday in a statement it had received the new application and said he would now discuss with Athens and its European partners “of the timing and modalities” of future discussions on the aid plan.

Relief of the Greek debt

The Greek government, dominated by the radical left Syriza party, originally intended to do without any new aid plan IMF, considered too strong supporter of rigor. But Athens had had to back to Germany in particular, which insisted that the institution of Washington, involved since 2010 in two successive bailouts of Greece, remains on board.

The Fund and the Greek government are, however, agree to call a debt relief for Greece, the European statistical office Eurostat has estimated at an amount representing approximately 170% of the Product gross domestic. Formally, the Fund’s assistance to Greece still runs until spring 2016, and a new application was not necessary.

“Dear Director of the IMF”

Mr Tsakalotos mail to Christine Lagarde, that begins “Dear Director General of the IMF,” thus appears above as a gesture of political goodwill. The letter was published while the process of negotiating a third aid package involving the IMF, the States of the euro area and the European Central Bank (ECB) seemed skate Friday.

So that Athens has already approved several steps, including two votes on the reforms that have cost some of his parliamentary majority to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, blur remained on arrival in the country high officials from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF. The team assessing the Greek economy and reforms, which had not set foot for nearly a year in Greece due to a growing hostility towards this “troika” is expected “in the coming days. ”

ultra tight calendar

The challenge of this new round of meetings is finalized, by 20 August at the latest, the third plan Using the principle of which was accepted in pain July 13. Greece, whose coffers are empty, must repay more than three billion euros to the ECB on August 20, then 1.5 billion to the IMF in September.

The timetable is extremely tight. It takes less than a month define priority actions to be implemented, decide the payment schedule and agree on the fiscal path of Greece fallen into recession in the first quarter, according to a source close to the talks. During this process, the exact amount of the aid plan, valued for the moment 82-86000000000 euros, could be revised.

Some of this sum is to be used to recapitalize Greek banks, which reopened Monday after three weeks of closing, but in a very constrained environment.