The International Monetary Fund is following developments in Greece closely and stands ready to help, but there's been no request for aid from the euro-zone country, an IMF official said Thursday.
The International Monetary Fund is following developments in Greece
closely and stands ready to help, but there's been no request for aid from the
euro-zone country, an IMF official said Thursday.
"We remain ready to assist
Greece
if
asked by the Greek authorities," Gerry Rice, deputy head of external
relations at the IMF, said during a regular briefing with the press. "We
have not been asked."
Greece
plans
to raise up to $10 billion in the coming weeks even though officials say they
are frustrated that the country's borrowing costs haven't fallen after the
recent rescue pledge by its fellow European nations and the IMF.
Last week's reassurance by the European Union that the bloc wouldn't let
Greece
default
was meant to lower the amount of interest
Greece
would
have to offer to attract the funding it desperately needs.
A week later, that hasn't happened, raising expectations that the EU, together
with the IMF, will need to step in to bail out
Greece
. Yet
it is unclear how much further
Greece
's
financial position has to deteriorate before the EU would agree to intervene.
Rice didn't provide much detail on how any rescue mechanism would be shared by
the EU and the IMF, saying only that the IMF would consult with both Greek and
EU authorities.
Turning to
Iceland
, the
official said the IMF staff's preliminary judgment on the country's second
review, which could potentially release key aid, was positive. But he added
that this view now needs to be shared by the IMF's executive board.
Rice said IMF staff would be working with authorities in
Iceland
in
the coming days, but declined to say whether an IMF mission would be traveling
to the country.
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